The Walk - What St. Patrick Taught Me About Fear and Faith

I was standing at the foot of Croagh Patrick, a rugged mountain in Ireland where St. Patrick once fasted for 40 days. Pilgrims were climbing barefoot over sharp rocks, a powerful act of penance. I, meanwhile, was lacing up my sturdy boots, wondering what drove them to do this.

This mountain, this saint, and his story all have something important to teach us—not just about faith but about how we navigate an ever-changing world.

St. Patrick wasn’t even Irish. He was a kidnapped teenager, taken from what is now Scotland and enslaved in Ireland. Instead of giving in to despair, he turned to prayer, learning to listen for God’s voice in the silence. When he finally escaped and made it home, he had another vision—this time calling him back to Ireland. It made no sense. Why return to the land of his captors? And yet, he did. And that changed everything.

What fascinates me is how Patrick spread the Christian faith. Not through force or fear, but through understanding, culture, and storytelling. He spoke the people's language, embraced their traditions, and built communities that would last for generations.

That’s the part of Patrick’s story that feels so relevant today. We live in a time where many are retreating into fear, seeing change as a threat. But Patrick’s life proves that faith doesn’t thrive in isolation—it grows when it meets people where they are.

• He didn’t fight against the culture. He engaged with it.
• He didn’t preach from a pedestal. He walked alongside people.
• He didn’t see outsiders as enemies. He saw them as his mission.

I think that’s something worth reflecting on today. What if, instead of fearing change, we looked for the ways God is calling us to step into it with courage? What if we saw differences not as barriers but as bridges?

If this sparks something in you, I dive deeper into these ideas in this week’s episode of The Walk. We explore Patrick’s real story (not the myth), how his approach still speaks to us today, and why faith always flourishes when it embraces, rather than rejects, the world around it.