getting ready for St. Patrick's Day

Maybe you have Irish blood (I do!) and maybe you don't, but every Christian should be able to get excited about St. Patrick of Ireland. About a month ago, we celebrated the feast day of St. Brigid of Kildare, but even that wouldn't have been possible without the work of St. Patrick. Go here for a take on that excellent work of evangelism. I like especially this part:

Here is someone whose sufferings enlarged rather than degraded his soul, whose love for the Irish that had captured and enslaved him was one of the purest examples of Christ’s own, and whose simple, good-humored, faith-drenched manliness in the face of the multitude of serpents he indeed drove roaring and hissing from Ireland, should be held before the eyes of every Christian man, as his Breastplate—if not of Patrick’s composition, surely his own anyway--should be in every hymnal.


So what can you do to get ready to celebrate St. Patrick this Saturday? Well, among other things, you can learn the words to that Breastplate Hutchens mentions above. I love the hymn version of it. This is the song I sing whenever I am feeling afraid; it's reminder of the Trinity's might and power is always comforting, and the chorus that begins "Christ be with me/Christ within me" is a prayer I always want to pray. (The link includes a music file and lyrics, making it very easy to just start singing along.)

My other favorite thing to do in celebration of St. Patrick's day is eating corned beef and cabbage. Just buy a package of corned beef, stick it in your crockpot with chopped cabbage and enough water to cover meat and veg, then cook it all day on low. (Or follow the package directions.) It's delicious. (And if you go to the store right after the 17th, you should find corned beef brisket on sale at bargain prices. Buy some to stick in the freezer for later.)

Finally? Find a clover leaf and teach your kids about the Trinity. It's never too early to start learning good theology!


peace of Christ to you,
Jessica

p.s. Today's picture is of our baby orange tree. It thinks it can bear two hundred and three oranges all by itself. I'm not so sure.