Should St. Patrick's Day become
a religious holiday?
By: Wanda L. Ball
St. Patrick's Day is celebrated on March 17th. St. Patrick was a saint of Ireland, because he was
sent to Ireland to minister to the Irish Christians as well as convert the unbelievers. This day is
also St. Patrick's religious feast day and the anniversary of his death in the fifth century. Irish
families traditionally attend church in the morning and celebrate in the afternoon by feasting on
the traditional meat of Irish bacon and cabbage. Today St. Patrick's Day is celebrated by people of
all backgrounds, by wearing green attire in the United States, Canada and Australia.
Since St. Patrick was considered a saint, should St. Patrick's Day really become a religious holiday?
Let's first look at the word saint. It comes from the Greek word "hagios", which means
"consecrated to God, Holy, sacred, pious." In the Bible, there are 67 uses of the plural "saints"
compared to only one use of the singular word "saint". To be a saint is to be in a group of people
set apart for the Lord and His kingdom. Ephesians 4:12 says, "For the equipping of the saints for
the work of service, to the building up of the body of Christ." St. Patrick was considered a saint
after his death. And in the Roman Catholic theology, saints have died and are in Heaven. A
person doesn't become a saint unless they are "beatified" or "canonized" by the Pope or bishop.
There is no doubt that St. Patrick was a living Christian saint, before his death, because his calling
was to minister to the world when he was alive. According to the Bible, the saints are the body of
Christ and the church. All Christians are to be considered saints and are called to be saints.
Ephesians 5:3 also says, "But immorality or any impurity or greed must not even be named among
you, as is proper among saints." And Corinthians 1:2 clearly states, "To the church of God in
Corinth, to those sanctified in Christ Jesus and called to be holy..."
Because the Bible says "the saints are on earth", St. Patrick's Day can be a day considered and
used as a religious holiday. Not because we are celebrating the sainthood of one man, but
because we as saints are called to spread the Gospel of Jesus Christ and to pray and worship God
alone, not man.
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