Jesus Go Bragh
By Paul Zukunft, Session Elder
Happy Saint Patrick’s Day! As a child growing up in Connecticut, I never fully understood the meaning behind the greenery, shamrocks and leprechauns, and for that matter, the significance of St. Patrick. Did he really drive the snakes out of Ireland?
In my mid-20’s I was stationed in Savannah, Georgia that hosted one of the largest St. Patrick’s Day parades in the nation. My patrol boat carrying the City Mayor and a host of VIPs plied the Savannah River that had been dyed green. Revelers and restaurants alike were festooned with banners that read, Erin Go Bragh. What was that all about?
Thanks to today’s technology and search engines (and as Paul Harvey would say, “Page 2”), we can shed a more realistic and less mythological light upon St. Patrick.
First, he was not Irish. He was born in Great Britain but taken captive by Irish raiders at the age of 16. He was enslaved as a shepherd in Ireland for the next six years until he escaped to his native Great Britain in the 5th century.
While in captivity, he learned the native Irish language and witnessed the proliferation of pagan worship. Upon his escape to Great Britain, St. Patrick heard the voice of God reach out to him and say, “Come and walk among us.” And so he returned to the isle of his captivity as a missionary and baptized over 100,000 souls and ordained many a priest. He portrayed the three-leafed shamrock as The Trinity, and that legacy of green and flora persists to this day.
Even back then, the climate of Ireland has never been hospitable to reptiles and namely, snakes. So while folklore credits St. Patrick with driving the snakes out of Ireland, those were metaphoric snakes straight from the Book of Genesis. The pagans were the ones this patron saint ultimately drove out of Ireland.
March 17 marks the day of St. Patrick’s entering the Kingdom of God, and starting in the 17th century, that day has been observed as the lifting of Lenten restrictions. Hence, the drunken revelry.
As for the leprechaun, this caricature has been a derogatory depiction of people with Irish ancestry, yet it is so ubiquitous––from cereal brands, rainbows and pots of gold, to the Boston Celtics––that our sensitivities have become jaded.
As for Erin Go Bragh, what does it mean? It’s Irish for “Ireland forever!”
So let me connect these dots to this theme. The similarities between Jesus’ mission on Earth and that of St. Patrick in Ireland are strikingly familiar. Both humble servants preached The Trinity and ordained disciples to drive out idol worship. Ironically, celebrations of the huge sacrifices they made for the sake of others have been secularized, not only by St. Patrick’s Day on the one hand, but Fat Tuesday on the eve of Lenten season on the other.
Erin Go Bragh, “Ireland Forever,” stirs nationalistic pride, and God knows that we can certainly be more demonstrative in our walk with Jesus Christ, the Son of God and the Savior of the World, who came to walk among us. So on this St. Patrick’s Day, let’s take a moment to reflect upon Jesus Go Bragh, Jesus Forever, who lives and reigns forever and ever. He is with us 365 x 24.
Prayer: Lord Jesus, on this day of secularized celebration, know that You will not be forsaken, and as Your disciples, our walk with You will not break stride. Just like St. Patrick, we strive to drive out the evil in this world and uphold Your grace in all that we do. “Jesus Go Bragh!” Amen.
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