The biggest mistake we can make when it comes to spiritual matters is to separate our spirituality from our everyday lives. Such a split can never work because both are connected so closely. They are so close that they are actually one. If we go back hundreds of years to our Celtic ancestors, they had that balance just right. For them God is to be found in our everyday lives. Everything we do is like a breath of God. From the smallest job to the least important task, God is to be found. As we look forward to St Patrick’s Day today, we know that his life is probably the best example of someone who never separated his spirituality from everyday life. For him both were completely connected almost effortlessly. He reminds us beautifully, that the most important event right down to the one that seems almost trivial, we will find God in there too.

It was many years after St. Patrick that we slowly lost this connection. There was an ongoing effort to confine God to a particular place and time. God for example could only be found in huge cathedrals and big churches. It seemed that bigger was better. We began to separate spirituality and our everyday lives. The connection was lost and this has been a huge loss. It was something St Patrick would not have wanted. But if we look at his life, we can see that he never led two separate lives but always one. As we journey through these weeks of Lent and as we look forward to St Patrick’s Day, the invitation is to know that God’s unique love for us, will be found very much in our everyday lives.