Beannachtaí na Féile Pádraig

It's not fair really. In Ireland they get today off. In America we wear green clothes (hopefully colored or environmentally sound green clothes not "green" clothes -- that would be smelly), drink green beer (and turning green -- definitely a tough one for those who gave up alcohol for lent although some say the day is to be a one day break from Lent, strangely convenient), paint our rivers green, paint green shamrocks on the road and have parades, but still go to work. Bummer.

As with many of our "secular" holiday's, St. Patricks Day has it's roots in Christianity (I think the St. part of St. Patricks day was a dead give-away but just in case you weren't paying attention I thought I would point that out).

Do you know the significance of the shamrock? Come on, try it, guess -- a hint, it has THREE leaves.

Waiting.

Waiting.

Yep (as I'm sure you got it), it's for the Holy Trinity. It was the way St. Patrick taught the pagans (most likely the Druids at Tara) about the holy trinity -- trinity = three, shamrock has three leaves. About "driving the snakes out of Ireland", well most likely there weren't any to begin with and it's a symbolic story relating to putting an end to the pagan practice of worshipping snakes.

It should be noted that the first official St. Patricks Day actually occurred in the states, not in Ireland (it was also an official Holy day for awhile, with morning masses and etc.). Irish soldiers serving in the English military in New York City marched through the streets, reconnecting to their Irish roots and reaching out to other Irishmen in the military, way back in 1762.

So beyond the green, the shamrocks, the beer -- what is St. Patricks Day? In the spirit and tenor of the Saint himself it should be about two things.

Forgiveness.

Kindness to Strangers.

Born to a wealthy Roman-English family, deacons of the church, he was kidnapped at 16 by Irish raiders and stolen away to Ireland as a slave, spending about four years in captivity. In a dream God implored him to escape to the coast, taking a ship back to Britain. Following his dream he ended up studying to be a priest. He then chose to return to those who had treated him so poorly, and seek to save them.

"I never had any reason," he wrote, "except the Gospel and his promises, ever to have returned to that nation from which I had previously escaped with difficulty."

For the Christian, Patrick poses an important question: would you be willing to serve a place where you had known heartache? And how much is the Gospel worth to you? For everyone, he offers a challenge: can you forgive the people who have wronged you? Could you even love them? Reverand James Martin on the Huffington Post website

Think differently when you see that next shamrock. It's easy to forgive a slight, smile and be kind to a stranger. We forget to do either most times, but generally it is not so hard.

But could you do the same to someone who had so grievously harmed you? Who you want to hate, want to seek revenge upon? Could you be as forgiving? Could you be as kind? It is one thing to spread a smile, open a door. But we're talking save a life, eternity wise kind.

Do you have it in you? Could you?

Everything starts with one step. Start now.

Forgive. Be kind to someone you don't really feel like being kind too.

And truly celebrate St. Patricks Day.