If we mentioned "The Great Commission" in real estate circles, dollar signs might flash as people imagined a super cut from a big sale.  From a Christian standpoint, though, the Great Commission refers to Jesus' command at the end of St. Matthew's Gospel:

Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything that I have commanded you.  And remember, Iam with you always, to the end of the age.  Matthew 28.19-20

Today is St. Patrick's Day, named for the saint who used the shamrock to teach the concept of Trinity: three leaves on one plant, three persons in one God. Patrick was obviously an inspired teacher as well as a man of faith.  He taught about complexity with simplicity, and used the ordinary to illustrate the extraordinary.  One true God was an important point to get across to pagan people whose experience was with many false gods.

Patrick was born and captured in Britain, and carried to Ireland as a slave.  When he regained his freedom and chose to go back to Ireland to convert his former captors to Christianity, he was not greeted as a returning hero.  Druidism was that country's reigning religion, and those who were its spokespersons and derived their authority from it (kings and priests) wanted to kill Patrick.  In this way they would silence the voice that was capturing the hearts of the people.

There is a story that one Easter Eve Patrick lit a huge bonfire to greet the feast of the resurrection ('calls to mind our own Easter fire in the church cemetery....).  The King of Tara was so angered he sent out men to waylay and execute Patrick.  Realizing he was in mortal danger, Patrick called upon God to protect him and his friends, using words like armor. His prayer has come down to us as "The Breastplate of St. Patrick," contained in the hymn "I Bind Unto Myself Today."  It is also called "The Deer's Cry," because legend has it that in answer to Patrick's plea God turned him and his companions into a herd of deer until danger had passed.  Our fear is that we will be ridiculed or rejected, not killed, for spreading the faith.  Yet we still have a hard time opening our mouths and hearts to share the best news of all: the Good News!

There is no more beautiful title for a faith family than "Holy Trinity," the name of the God who creates, redeems and sanctifies us. Let us use St. Patrick's words today to pray for courage to share our Good News:

I bind unto myself the name, the strong name of the Trinity; by invocation of the same, the Three in One, and One in Three, of whom all nature hath creation; Eternal Father, Spirit, Word: praise to the Lord of my salvation, salvation is of Christ the Lord.

Pastor Mary Virginia Farnham
bluiris27@msn.com