A long time ago I saw a t-shirt that said “Half Gaelic Half Garlic.”  I regret never purchasing that shirt since I am half Italian and half Irish; but, I make up for it by telling people that phrase every time I’m asked about my families heritage.  Needless to say, for all of us graced with both Irish and Italian parents, this week is one of the best in our whole year!  Both major patrons celebrated just days apart!  All the ham, corned beef, cabbage, potatoes, and soda bread you can eat on one day; fish, desserts, coffee, and pasta on the other day and of course more wine, whiskey, and beer than you know what to do with!  It’s a great week!  But how should one really celebrate these two major feast days?  In the United States, only one of them is a Solemnity but both should be given solemn respect.  I offer this reflection to those of us who want to celebrate but also want to remember what we are celebrating.

St. Patrick, who wasn't even Irish, came to Ireland first as a slave and again as a humble Bishop being sent by Pope Celestine (patron Saint of my home parish).  St. Patrick had one goal: to spread the faith and convert hearts to Jesus Christ.  He did this by ordaining many priests and sending them out to baptize the country in Christ’s name!  This was both a great idea and a bad idea…these priests were baptizing everyone…even if they didn’t want to be baptized and it didn't matter if the people had any knowledge (a good number didn’t) of the faith they were being baptized into.  But St. Patrick knew the power of baptism and he wanted to save the whole country!  St. Patrick was a major evangelist!  He taught the faith as often as he could.  His most famous teaching is on the Trinity where he used a shamrock as a visual aid.  St. Patrick loved Jesus Christ, he loved the Church, and he loved the people of Ireland so much that he did what he could to save their souls.  
St. Joseph, the foster father of Jesus, is a great saint; he is a humble man, a model of chastity (especially for men), and a model of fatherhood!  I’m not sure how St. Joseph became the patron of Italy or where such popular Italian devotion to St. Joseph came from; but, none the less, many great Italian traditions come from celebrating this great saint!  Across the world this day is celebrated in the Church as a solemnity (as important as a Sunday) although it is not a holy day of obligation.  We don’t know much about Joseph, which shows his great humility, but we do know that he remained chaste through his marriage with the Blessed Mother, that he took care of the Holy Family by migrating them to Egypt for protection, he was a tradesmen (carpenter), and he was fully obedient to the will of God.