For many, St Patrick’s Day conjures up images of drinking, partying and the colour green.
But as Fr Laurence Murphy SDS said last Monday, the festive occasion was also a hallmark of Christianity.
The Father delivered a moving homily to hundreds of people dressed in varying shades of green, who gathered together at St Mary’s Cathedral on March 17 to celebrate St Patrick’s Day with a Mass hosted by the Archdiocese of Perth and the Irish Community of WA.
“We have a heritage that we must cherish and foster as the years go by,” Fr Murphy said.
“But why are we here today? I am here because it is St Patrick’s Day,” he said.
“I thank God for friends and family and my Irishness; I’m a Dubliner and an Irishman and I am also a dinky die Aussie.”
Born in 1932, Fr Murphy is originally from Dublin and has been in Australia for the past 48 years.
Fr Murphy went on to explain what he meant by stating the various places he belongs to; he acknowledged the importance of St Patrick’s Day to the Irish but he also stressed the importance of the Catholic faith to everyone.
“St Patrick’s Day is a celebration of our Irishness but it is also the faith that you cling on to and value,” he said.
“It’s not just simply about our green but it has a message and that is if we can show love and respect for each other in the way we greet and speak to each other; if we do this every day it would be exactly what St Patrick’s is all about.”
Tradition has it that Ireland’s patron saint was born into a wealthy Roman-Britain family in the fourth century.
At the age of 16 he was kidnapped and taken to Gaelic Ireland where he spent six years as a shepherd and found solace in his Christianity.
Eventually he found his way back home and became a priest.
Following his ordination he returned to Ireland and set about converting the pagan Irish to Christianity. Elizabeth Few, a member of the congregation spoke to The Record about what St Patrick meant to her.
“He means faith to me,” she said. “I survived cancer because of my faith and my love for St Patrick.”
Sandra Took, another member of the congregation also shared her thoughts on the great saint with The Record.
“St Patrick brings all the Irish people together,” she said. “He reminds me of home.”
The celebrations included a reel from the WA Academy of Irish Dancing and a message from the President of Ireland read out by Alan Kelly, Minister for Public and Commuter Transport.