Am 17.3. gedenkt die Kirche des Hl. Patricks, der von Piraten zum Sklaven in Irland gemacht wurde und später als Bischof zurückkehrte, um das Evangelium der Liebe Gottes zu verkünden.
Am Samstag davor, dem 15.3.2025 versammelten sich Iren, Wiener, Diplomaten und Freunde Irlands in der Schottenkirche zur Festmesse mit Harfe und Dudelsack. Anschließend gingen sie begleitet von einem Dudelsackorchester viennapipes.com und der Blasmusik der Wiener Verkehrsbetriebe in einer Prozession zum Festplatz im Ersten Bezirk.
Video des Interviews mit Botschafterin Barbara Cullinane
Dear brothers and sisters,
can religion help bring people together in peace? The readings of the bible we heard today bring our thinking to the goal of eternal life. Paul mentions the enemies of the Cross of Christ who consider the earthly things most important: “Their god is their stomach.” (Phil 3,19) This means an immediate desire: Eating for pleasure is a symbol of being driven by one’s instincts. When they dominate you, you won’t be free to see God and the next person. These instincts can be looking for honour, being jealous or envious, being reigned by anger or dejection.
Paul points out that “our homeland is in heaven”. It is the fulfilment of the sincere wishes of our souls like peace, joy, being useful to others who need me. These longings in the inner human being point to our Creator. We would not associate God with bad feelings or desires, but with the inner longing to be good. This is why heaven would be our homeland. We feel at home where somebody loves us and is waiting for us to come home. The Saviour, the Lord Jesus Christ, is not just waiting for us somewhere, but he came to earth, was born like all of us by a woman, lived and died and rose from the dead. This heaven reaches down to earth, to the visible things as we can already feel the presence of God and how he acts in our life.
Already thinking of Him and His commandments changes the inner human being. It is a clear sign of God’s acting in history. We can observe it in our own personal life. This is how Christian religion has the power of bringing together people in peace. Thinking of God and imitating Him makes us peaceful, respectful to others. It helps us endure the hard aspects of life because we know that God has a sense for our lives.
It is very touching when you read the beginning of St. Patrick’s confessions. We could call them a spiritual autobiography. “My name is Patrick. I am a sinner, a simple country person, and the least of all believers.” In a very simple language understandable for everybody he confesses that he didn’t properly know God though his father was a deacon and his grandfather even a priest. “It was there that the Lord opened up my awareness of my lack of faith.” Being kidnapped by Irish pirates and brought from Britain to Ireland, opened his eyes. In the difficult situation he realized who was God. The hostile action of the raiders made him think of God’s will to help people to find peace among people. When he returned to Ireland, he preached the two commandments to love God and neighbour. He showed that the Holy Trinity means that God in himself is love. The three persons in one God are an example for every Christian who has the image of God in his soul.
St. Patrick and other monks inspired the development of a Christian society. Though we might struggle on this path of love because we are sinners, as Saint Patrick says, we should continue going. What is the alternative? Fighting each other? Ousting each other?
In February I had the chance to visit an institution where people try to plant the seeds of the Gospel for young people. The Irish embassy in Vienna opened for me the door to Ireland by introducing me to the monks of Glenstal Abbey. This monastery is located in the southern half of Ireland. The 26 monks have run a school for 100 years already. At the first evening I could already feel their hospitability when abbot Columba said “welcome home”. 870 years ago the first monks of our abbey here in Vienna came from Ireland. I could see how the benedictine monks, the teachers and the students of Glenstal Abbey implemented Christian attitudes in school life. The large woods and green fields around the 200-year-old building and the recently constructed modern classrooms, the daily prayers of the monks and their guests deliver a good atmosphere where people can grow and gain inner strength.
Jesus Christ showed the disciples a vision of how it could be. On the mountain of transfiguration they saw the glory of Jesus Christ and they heard about his passing, his sufferings in Jerusalem. Probably Peter, James, and John did not understand at that moment what was going on. But later in their preachings and letters they could encourage people not to give up doing God’s will. Amen.