Msgr. Walsh reflects on how St. Patrick wanted to use the Gospel to unify Ireland
March 17, 2022 at 10:50 p.m.
But when preaching to the congregation during the Mass he celebrated on St. Patrick’s Day, March 17 in St. Alphonsus Church, Hopewell, Msgr. Michael J. Walsh preferred to reflect on St. Patrick from an evangelization viewpoint and how hundreds of years ago, Patrick had made it his mission to bring the Good News of Jesus to the people of Ireland during a time when the country was experiencing much disunity and unrest.
“It was not a very attractive mission,” said Msgr. Walsh, but Patrick “knew he was being sent by God. Regardless of what he was up against, he was committed to bringing the Good News of the Gospel into the lives of the people in Ireland.”
For well over 10 years, Msgr. Walsh has celebrated the Feast of St. Patrick with a Mass in the Irish and English languages. For a number of years the Masses were held in Immaculate Conception Church, a worship site of Our Lady of the Angels Parish, Trenton, and then two years ago, at the onset of the pandemic, the Mass was moved to St. Alphonsus where the Mass could be livestreamed.
In his homily, Msgr. Walsh, who is a retired priest of the Diocese and currently lives in Villa Vianney, the diocesan residence in Lawrenceville for retired priests, noted that Patrick intended to present the Gospel to the people of Ireland as a sign of unity, and also as an instrument for achieving unity, even during a difficult and painful time in the history of the country where there was great division.
Even today, he said, “The Gospel is still struggling with us humans and our various agendas to achieve that goal of bringing that spirit of oneness, that communion, into the hearts of all people everywhere.”
More to come on this story.
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But when preaching to the congregation during the Mass he celebrated on St. Patrick’s Day, March 17 in St. Alphonsus Church, Hopewell, Msgr. Michael J. Walsh preferred to reflect on St. Patrick from an evangelization viewpoint and how hundreds of years ago, Patrick had made it his mission to bring the Good News of Jesus to the people of Ireland during a time when the country was experiencing much disunity and unrest.
“It was not a very attractive mission,” said Msgr. Walsh, but Patrick “knew he was being sent by God. Regardless of what he was up against, he was committed to bringing the Good News of the Gospel into the lives of the people in Ireland.”
For well over 10 years, Msgr. Walsh has celebrated the Feast of St. Patrick with a Mass in the Irish and English languages. For a number of years the Masses were held in Immaculate Conception Church, a worship site of Our Lady of the Angels Parish, Trenton, and then two years ago, at the onset of the pandemic, the Mass was moved to St. Alphonsus where the Mass could be livestreamed.
In his homily, Msgr. Walsh, who is a retired priest of the Diocese and currently lives in Villa Vianney, the diocesan residence in Lawrenceville for retired priests, noted that Patrick intended to present the Gospel to the people of Ireland as a sign of unity, and also as an instrument for achieving unity, even during a difficult and painful time in the history of the country where there was great division.
Even today, he said, “The Gospel is still struggling with us humans and our various agendas to achieve that goal of bringing that spirit of oneness, that communion, into the hearts of all people everywhere.”
More to come on this story.