Reason for Hope

by Jim Bemis

A Chinese curse says, "May you live in interesting times." Well, we're certainly living in interesting times, and whether it's a curse or not depends on your perspective, I suppose. Some believe this is the best of times; many more swear the Apocalypse is just around the corner.

I can only think as a Catholic thinks, for that is the air I breathe and the blood running in my veins. What I see is this: my Church is rocked by scandal; the American bishops, by drinking too long and too deeply from liberalism's wells, seem incapable of doing anything about it; while losing some of our best and brightest, our country is inexorably drawn into the swirling vortex of war; the vicious ethnic dispute in the Middle East shows no sign of ever abating; the unimaginable horror of human cloning stands inevitably before us. Worse yet, Christ is mocked, denied and ignored by a corrupt culture that needs him now more than ever.

How sad it is for those who don't know Him! Each day, millions are saved from the slavery of sin by prayers to Our Lord and His Blessed Mother. This is the hope and refuge of us all; it is what makes our suffering bearable. Without recourse to Christ, each of us would be condemned to a life of despair. And without the warm embrace of His (and our) Mother, how cold and cruel the world would seem.

But we do have these comforts and so, no matter how bad things seem, we need never despair. Our anxiety - and believe me, I feel it as acutely at times as anyone - comes from a lack of faith, a failure to acknowledge that God is in charge. So rather than fret, those signed with the mark of Christ should, as G. K. Chesterton said, "go gaily in the dark."

Wearin' O' the Green

Years ago, in happier and more carefree times, St. Patrick's Day was a major holiday, a festive occasion when everybody was a wee bit Irish. Wearin' o' the green was a big part of the fun, with pinches awaiting those who didn't don the emerald color.

Today, the bloom is off St. Patrick's Day - I'm sure pinching someone is now considered a "hate" crime - but not in my household. Tradition is alive there, kept as faithfully as a mother's love.

Our family celebration starts early, listening to Bing Crosby croon "Top O' the Morning to You," fine and cheery as you please. Next we play Van Morrison and the Chieftain's Irish Heartbeat CD, the loveliest blend of old and new Celtic music a body could find.

Then comes Disney's Darby O'Gill and the Little People, a movie that's precious as a faerie's gift, capturing the magic of Irish folktale as well as humanly possible. By this time, the corned beef's boiling, and the cook's getting mighty thirsty, which is why, I suppose, God made Guinness Stout.

With corned beef and black beer, we watch John Ford's great The Quiet Man, the best film ever made about the Irish. Before going to bed, the wee ones hear the story of Erin's beloved St. Patrick, a tale that warms an Irish heart quicker than a blazing hearth.

St. Patrick, it seems, was actually an Englishman - but he's long since been forgiven for that. At 16, Patrick was kidnapped and brought to Ireland as a slave. During his captivity, he experienced a spiritual awakening, eventually escaping to Britain. After becoming a Catholic priest and then bishop, Patrick received a calling to spread Christianity and civilization back in Ireland, where his legend began.

St. Patrick is associated with many famous stories, including outperforming the druids in a tournament of miracles, thereby winning the right to preach Christianity in Ireland; his driving the snakes into the sea; and raising several people, including his father, from the dead.

Most popular, though, is the tale of the shamrock. In teaching converts about the Trinity, the great saint held up a shamrock, explaining the three leaves represented the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Thus, the shamrock, now commonly worn on St. Patrick's Day, became the symbol of Ireland and the faith of her people.

All Irish history converges on the legend of St. Patrick - where mythic past met European future, where Celtic sword met Christian cross, where heaven's rainbow bent to kiss its earthly realm. For many of us, so long as we can still draw breath, we'll be celebrating the old saint's day and toasting the man who made Christianity the faith of our fathers.

James Bemis is an editorial board member, weekly columnist and film critic for California Political Review. He is also a columnist for the Internet website Catholic Exchange and served for years as a columnist for the Los Angeles Daily News. He is a frequent contributor to The Wanderer, the oldest weekly national Catholic newspaper. Mr. Bemis' work has appeared in National Catholic Register, Catholic Faith & Family, Catholic Digest, Thomas Aquinas College Newsletter, The Wanderer Forum Focus, the Los Angeles Times, the Ventura County Star, and the Simi Valley Enterprise. His five-part series, "Through the Eyes of the Church," on the Vatican's list of the 45 Most Important Films in the Century of Cinema, was published in The Wanderer. Mr. Bemis is currently writing a book on Catholic art, literature and film.