In-Formatio

The Great Triduum begins today.

Collect for the Day

Almighty Father, whose dear Son, on the night before he suffered, instituted the Sacrament of his Body and Blood: Mercifully grant that we may receive it thankfully in remembrance of Jesus Christ our Lord, who in these holy mysteries gives us a pledge of eternal life; and who now lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.

Scriptures for the Day

Exodus 12:1-4, (5-10), 11-14
1 Corinthians 11:23-26
John 13:1-17, 31b-35
Psalm 116:1, 10-17

Thought for the Day

(a poem by Mary K. Himens)

Holy Thursday
On seeing a Bradford pear tree 

   "Do this in memory of Me ..."
    echoes round the globe. 

    As, pointing heavenward,
    the topmost branches skim the sky
    while all the others
    swoop and stretch
    in yearning …

Beyond all the green beer, the partying, and the wearing of the green, today is the Feast Day for the former Bishop of Ireland in the 5th century.

Here are some resources to remind us all that this day began as a church festival-

Collect

Almighty God, in your providence you chose your servant Patrick to be the apostle of the Irish people, to bring those who were wandering in darkness and error to the true light and knowledge of you: Grant us so to walk in that light that we may come at last to the light of everlasting life; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.

Patrick was born about 390, in southwest Britain, somewhere between the Severn and the Clyde rivers, son of a deacon and grandson of a priest. When about sixteen years old, he was kidnapped by Irish pirates and sold into slavery in Ireland. Until this time, he had, by his own account, cared nothing for God, but now he turned to God for help. After six years, he either escaped or was freed, made his way to a port 200 miles away, and there persuaded some sailors to take him onto their ship. He returned to his family much changed, and began to prepare for the priesthood, and to study the Bible.

Around 435, Patrick was commissioned, perhaps by bishops in Gaul and perhaps by the Pope, to go to Ireland as a bishop and missionary. Four years earlier another bishop, Palladius, had gone to Ireland to preach, but he was no longer there (my sources disagree on whether he had died, or had become discouraged and left Ireland to preach in Scotland). Patrick made his headquarters at Armagh in the North, where he built a school, and had the protection of the local monarch. From this base he made extensive missionary journeys, with considerable success. To say that he single-handedly turned Ireland from a pagan to a Christian country is an exaggeration, but is not far from the truth.

Almost everything we know about him comes from his own writings, available in English in the Ancient Christian Writers series. He has left us an autobiography (called the Confessio), a Letter to Coroticus in which he denounces the slave trade and rebukes the British chieftain Coroticus for taking part in it, and the Lorica (or “Breastplate” a poem of disputed authorship traditionally attributed to Patrick), a work that has been called “part prayer, part anthem, and part incantation.” The Lorica is a truly magnificent hymn, found today in many hymnals (usually abridged by the omission of the two stanzas bracketed below). The translation into English as given here is by Cecil Frances Alexander, whose husband was Archbishop of Armagh, and thus the direct successor of Patrick. She published nearly 400 poems and hymns of her own, including the well-known “There is a green hill far away,” “Once in royal David’s city,” “Jesus calls us; o’er the tumult,” and “All things bright and beautiful, All creatures great and small.”

(From Mission of St. Clare)

Today’s Gospel in the RCL was the story of the prodigal son from Luke 15.

The definition from Merriam-Webster includes:

1 : characterized by profuse or wasteful expenditure : lavish <a prodigal feast> <prodigal outlays for her clothes>

2 : recklessly spendthrift <the prodigal prince>

3 : yielding abundantly : luxuriant —often used with of <nature has been so prodigal of her bounty —

It can be argued that all of the main characters are prodigal–the younger son is obvious in his “dissolute living.”  The father is certainly lavish, maybe wasteful according to the older brother.

And the older brother? Maybe it is wasteful to not recognize who good you have got it.