Dear Sisters & Brothers in Christ, This week we celebrate two Feasts St Patrick and St Joseph. The Irish celebrated the feast of St Patrick wherever they went and now it has become a worldwide festival and somehow St Joseph seems to get lost in the festivities for St Patrick. What do you know of the two saints? Lets start with a little of the life of Patrick. There are two documents written by him available, the first is the confession of St Patrick, the second a letter to a chief called Corticus. Patrick begins his confession with these words “My name is Patrick… I am a sinner, a simple country person, and the least of all believers. I am looked down upon by many. My father was Calpornius. He was a deacon; his father was Potitus, a priest, who lived at Bannavem Taburniae. His home was near there, and that is where I was taken prisoner. I was about sixteen at the time.” Whether his home place was in Britain or France is still disputed. He was a young man kidnapped and used as a slave. In his time as a slave he rediscovered God and found the avability to forgive. When he escaped he eventually became a priest and a bishop and went back to convert the people who enslaved him. What do we learn” We learn about forgiveness and the call to proclaim the good news. St Joseph was the just man called to be the guardian of the God Child Jesus, the one who believe God and did not send Mary away, He is hidden in the gospel He left no stories no written documents. We know he was a carpenter because Jesus is referred to as the son of the carpenter. What can we learn? We can learn about being just and taking responsibility. We can learn about reflection and the fact that all goodness is not necessarily going to be front page news and that some of the greatest deeds are done quietly and the doers seek no rewards. Both of these saints challenge us to look at or world differently and to rediscover Jesus. Read the confession of St Patrick and search out the passages about Joseph in the Gospels. Let our Journey continue Pray for me as I pray for you, Fr Karl