BISHOP of Limerick Brendan Leahy has called for people to follow in the steps of St Patrick by welcoming different cultures and becoming peacemakers.
Irish people can be “proactive pilgrims” of promoting peace, justice, and truth in a tumultuous time, Bishop Leahy said.
Addressing St Patrick’s Day Mass, Bishop Leahy said that, just as the patron Saint himself led by example in promoting a new way of living, we too now need to lead by example, particularly in how we go about our lives, including how we welcome difference and new cultures.
“St Patrick brought the Gospel of Jesus Christ to us, he showed us there is an alternative way of living together, one that actively engages in overcoming oppositions and enmity, falsehood, and warfare. And for all of us, that can make committing ourselves to the daily micro-projects of peace as we care for our family, go about our work, engage in business and politics, and welcome migrants,” he said.
“Indeed, the social, cultural, and political landscape of the world around us today could be described as a landscape of a ‘cry’. Individuals and peoples, nations, and our planet are crying out so many levels.”
Bishop Leahy concluded that “for a country that honours St Patrick, we are to be prophetic promoters of peace and human dignity, highlighting the value of international law, supporting the noble ends of the UN Sustainable Development Goals, valuing life at all stages, and committing ourselves to peacekeeping and humanitarian relief”.
