The first priority in Archbishop Mark’s Apostolic Priorities for the Archdiocese of Brisbane, documented in With Lamps Ablaze, is Teaching Prayer. He says, “Often we urge people to pray but don’t really teach them how to pray… Now is the time to teach ways of prayer which are mature and all-embracing. Christian prayer begins not with speaking but with listening; and learning to pray is therefore learning to listen – to listen even to the silences of God. If all we do is speak, then in the words of Jesus we “babble like the pagans” (Matt 6:7). But if we speak after listening and in response to God who always has the first word, then we speak according to the mind of the Holy Spirit. That’s what we need to teach and learn. In the Gospel of Mark, we read that Jesus called the twelve apostles to himself, first of all, “that they might be with him” (3:14). This is where the mission starts: being with Jesus, which is what prayer is.”

Join us for our new weekly series, Let’s Pray, where we invite you to pray along with us. Each week we will invite you to pray a new prayer with us – maybe you don’t know what to pray, or want to pray along with someone, or want to practice your faith through prayer. Our Let’s Pray series is for everyone.

Today, as we celebrate the Feast Day of St Patrick, the patron saint of Ireland, we are joined by Nattasha from Evangelisation Brisbane, as she shared her childhood memories growing up and the significance of St Patrick to Ireland. So, let’s pray a St Patrick’s day prayer for the faithful and ask for the intercession of Saint Patrick as we live out our Christian calling.

• A St Patrick's Day Prayer for the Faithful

  A St Patrick's Day Prayer for the Faithful

  Author: Archdiocese of Brisbane

  
  Hello I’m Nattasha Mierendorf from the Youth and Young Adults Team at Evangelisation Brisbane.

  Saint Patrick holds a special place in my heart, and my family. My family has roots in Donegal in the Northwest of Ireland and the first school was St Patrick’s Catholic Primary. Every year the school would have a special event to celebrate Saint Patrick’s Feast Day, which included dress up. And my family has a competitive streak, my mum in particular, so when she heard there were prizes for the best Saint Patrick’s outfit, she got into gear. And although she’s not usually a crafty kind of woman she spent hours making a special outfit of the Saint’s flower.

  However, she made a slight error, and mixed up Saint Patrick, the patron of Ireland, with Saint David, the patron Saint of Wales. And where the flower for Ireland is a clover, the flower for Wales is a daffodil. So, I was dressed as a life-size daffodil, with petals made from coat hangers and yellow crepe paper and I was covered, every part of me, in green paper and I couldn’t sit down all day without tearing it. But it was a great outfit, and I did win first prize, but nobody really got why I was a daffodil.

  Regardless, I grew up knowing that Saint Patrick’s day was special and for many of us, this day is a part of our heritage as much as it is a part of our faith. Across the world, people with Irish roots like me, will raise a glass in the name of Saint Paddy, but this man was far more than a national icon. We remember him, 1500 years after he lived because of the Christian he was. He brought the Gospel to the Irish people and in doing so brought God’s love and his hope.

  A millennia and a half later, and across the globe, God asks us to do the same thing, to bring the Gospel, bring his hope and his love to the people in our lives. And it’s no small job, so would you join me in prayer and asking for the intercession of Saint Patrick as we live out our Christian calling.

  Let’s pray. In the name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit.

  Father, thank you for the witness of Saint Patrick, for his faith and his leadership that transformed a country. Give us the eyes to recognise how we can follow in his lead and be a witness of faith to others today and give us the encouragement and strength to share your love with others. Saint Patrick, pray for us.

  Thank you for joining us today. And we hope to see you again soon.