Bishop Harold urges us to describe an attractive future for a new generation
A St Patrick’s Day Message from Right Revd Harold Miller, Bishop of Down and Dromore:
This St Patrick’s Day we’re at a point in our history where we cannot agree on some critical issues of the past which are profoundly important for our future. The questions raised by the Haass talks simply cannot be avoided, and placing them on the back burner during a period of elections is not good enough. The issues of parading, flags and emblems, and the past have always the potential to derail our society, but especially so if we put them to the back of our minds rather than facing up to them with all the pain and challenge involved.
St Patrick has something to say to all of this. The challenges of Ireland in the fifth century were even greater than they are today, but this one young person was able to paint a picture of a world which was different, and of truly Christian values which had the potential to transform society. We celebrate his life and witness in 2014 not just as a story from the past, but as a sign of hope in the present. If we simply cling on to the old divisions of the past, there will not be a future for this place, only a past which repeats itself over and over again.
We are claiming more for an up and coming generation. We want an island where our offspring will be glad to set up home, a place they will be proud of, and a context in which they can flourish. That is our prayer this St Patrick’s Day, and we will not give up on that prayer until we see it fulfilled. Politicians, business people, artists, church leaders, all of us, need to give ourselves to describing the future in such a way that it becomes more real and attractive than the past.
The Celebrations on 17 March
The annual Down & Dromore St Patrick’s Day event gathers hundreds of visitors, from Ireland and abroad. The theme this year is ‘Transforming a Nation for Him’.
9.15am Holy Communion at Saul (Presiding: Revd Dr Heather Morris, Methodist President. Preacher: Hadden Wilson (Former Pastor of Ballynahinch Baptist)
10.15am Pilgrimage from Saul to Downpatrick
11.45am Festival Service in Down Cathedral (Preacher: Alain Emerson, Emmanuel Church Lurgan, 24–7 Prayer Ireland)
Wreath laying ceremony at St Patrick’s Grave,
1.00pm Irish stew lunch in the marquee
Transport to Saul
Please park along the Mall leading to the Cathedral in Downpatrick and board one of the private buses there.Buses to the communion service depart between 8.30 and 9.00 am. The last bus for the 35 minute pilgrimage leaves at 10.00 am.