Given on 17 March 2025 for the Patronal Mass at St Patrick's, Soho Square.
Dear Sisters and brothers in Christ, dear friends, Lá Fhéile Pádraig sona duit!
It is always a joy to celebrate St Patrick’s Day. This year we also rejoice to glorify the word of the Lord as we offer Mass together, in this Jubilee Holy Year, with its theme of Pilgrims of Hope. I thank Fr Alexander for his invitation to celebrate and preach at this Sacred Liturgy.
The parish of St Patrick’s Soho Square has been a home, a place of solace and a sign of hope to so many generations of believers and seekers. This evening we can give thanks for the gift of those persons who, in myriad ways, bring the message of the Gospel of Life alive for us. And through whose words, faith is awakened within us.
This parish continues to be a vibrant, faithful and compassionate witness to the mercy of God, in your care of the poor and teaching of the Catholic faith.
St Patrick, the Patron Saint of Ireland, renewed the nascent Church in Ireland. Through his work, energy and vision, he was instrumental in consolidating the communion of the Irish Church with the See of Peter. To the Irish people, Patrick also embodies the spirit of resilience and hope that is essential in our pilgrimage of faith.
In his ‘Confession’, Patrick says of himself:
“Although I am imperfect in many ways, I want my brothers and relations to know what I’m really like, so that they can see what it is that inspires my life.” (Confessio ʂ6).
Patrick’s life was marked by his desire to ensure that many names would be written in heaven. We know also from his writing that his faith was shot through with the awareness of his own failings, sorrow for sin and a genuine life of prayer.
Patrick, in his poverty and woundedness, allowed God to do new and unexpected things in him. Through prayer, his inner self was strengthened. As Dermot Farrell, the current Archbishop of Dublin, has reminded us in a recent sermon:
“From his heart, from within, sprung the decisions that guided his whole life. To return to his words, 'I want my brothers and relations to know what I’m really like, so that they can see what it is that inspires my life.'”
The harsh treatment Patrick received from his Irish captors did not turn Patrick in on himself. On his return from Ireland, the Saint did not close off his past. He heard the cry of his captors; their cry was “the cry of the poor”.
For out of the rubble of his sins and suffering. The Triune God was to bring forth something new. Just so in our lives, too, when we are open to Grace, God brings out of the shell of the old, something new.
Throughout history, many Irish people have left their homeland due to famine, religious persecution and economic hardship. They sought refuge and new beginnings in foreign lands, often facing great challenges and discrimination. This shared experience of migration and the quest for a better life is a poignant reminder of the struggles faced by many today.
I hope you will understand if, in this Mass on this feast, I recall the many Irish priests, religious men and women who have given their lives in the service of the Gospel in our Diocese of Westminster and, indeed, throughout England and Wales. In recent months we have marked the passing of a number of such faithful priests and religious women and men. Their lives were marked by generosity, faith and courage. They answered a call to leave home to serve the pilgrim people of God. I pray that a new generation, filled with the same zeal and generosity, will be raised up by God to be prophets to the nations.
The experience of migration and the dislocation of peoples is a constant theme in the histories of humanity.
In his recent letter to the US bishops, Pope Francis emphasises the Church’s call to welcome immigrants with open arms. He highlights the importance of evaluating immigration policies through the lens of compassion and human dignity, urging us to reject approaches that rely on force or criminalisation. The Holy Father reminds us that every migrant is a person with inherent dignity, deserving of respect and care. He sates:
“The Gospel mandate to ‘welcome the stranger’ requires Catholics to care for and stand with newcomers, authorised and unauthorised.”
The life of St Patrick and the contemporary call to welcome immigrants are closely intertwined. Just as St Patrick faced adversity and embraced the marginalised, we are invited to extend our hands and hearts to those who seek refuge among us. The resilience and faith demonstrated by St Patrick serve as an inspiration for us to recognise the struggles of migrants today. They too are seeking safety, opportunity and a place to belong, much like the Irish who sought new lives in distant lands.
As we face up to the complexity of the ongoing challenge of contemporary migration, human trafficking and displacements of peoples, it is vital that each one of us examine our own attitudes towards immigrants - a call echoed in the 2023 document of the Bishops Conference of England and Wales ‘Love the Stranger’. This places the human person at the heart of our pastoral outreach, looking beyond statistics and policies to the person, each with a name, a face and a story. In the same vein, the Irish bishops also, in their Pastoral letter A Hundred Thousand Welcomes, explored what hospitality for migrant people means in contemporary Ireland.
The Church teaches that the first place for attention to refugees is within our parish communities where we are called to be aware of, and attentive to, their plight and welcome these sisters and brothers as Christ would. We need to remember that “the Church is not foreign to anyone, anywhere.” This means actively participating in efforts to support newcomers, whether through advocacy, volunteering, or simply extending kindness and understanding.
There is still work to be done to foster a spirit of hospitality, understanding and solidarity within our communities recognising that, in welcoming the stranger, we encounter Christ himself.
The early Irish Church developed after Patrick put a particular emphasis on pilgrimage. Columbanus preached that “every day you depart and every day you return; you depart in your returning and you return in departing, different ending same beginning “. All things proceed out of and are destined to return into God - the Most High, sublime and undivided Trinity.
We are, after all, all of us, pilgrims on a journey. Pilgrims get dirty. The road is a dusty one. We need the company, care and prayers of each other. The pilgrim comes back changed and hopefully more open and more faithful than before. It has been well said that “there was never a pilgrim that did not come back to his own village with one less prejudice and one more idea.”
As we celebrate St Patrick, who was trafficked into slavery and became an apostle to those who once enslaved him; as we rejoice in the importance of our faith in Jesus Christ, True God and True Man, may we be inspired by St Patrick’s legacy and Pope Francis’ call to compassion, allowing our hearts to be open to those who seek refuge among us. For so many of us are children of emigres.
Dear Friends and fellow Pilgrims, we pray for guidance and compassion, asking Our Lady, Comforter of Migrants and Guide of Wanders, to intercede for all migrants and refugees, that they may find safety, dignity and a welcoming home in our communities.
Dia dhaoibh go léir