WILMINGTON — For more than three decades, members of Delaware’s Irish community and others have come together for a good time on St. Patrick’s Day, and also to support a good cause.
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This year was no different, as hundreds gathered on March 17 for the annual St. Patrick’s Day Society Mass and Communion Breakfast in Wilmington to raise money for the St. Patrick’s Center.
A capacity crowd filled St. Patrick’s Church on King Street, including a long list of Delaware’s political heavyweights. Among those in attendance were all three members of the state’s congressional delegation — Sens. Chris Coons and Lisa Blunt Rochester and Rep. Sarah McBride. They were joined by Gov. Matt Meyer, Lt. Gov. Kyle Evans Gay and Wilmington Mayor John Carney.
The most noteworthy guest was a longtime supporter of the society. Former President Joe Biden, as he has for many years, attended both the Mass and the breakfast, where he delivered a short talk on the importance of giving back. He recalled the examples set by his late parents and grandparents.
“This breakfast is a great Wilmington tradition,” Biden said. “I can think of no better way of celebrating St. Patrick’s Day than by supporting the St. Patrick’s Center.”
The center, he continued, restores hope to people greatly in need of it.
“You take care of our seniors, put faith into action,” Biden said.
“If some of our friends or family needs a little help getting back up, you’re there to help them. That’s what it’s all about. That’s what St. Patrick’s Center does,” he said.
Mike Hare, a parishioner at St. Elizabeth Church in Wilmington and one of the co-chairs of the Mass and breakfast, said the event is a way to celebrate the men and women who live a life of Gospel values through their work at the St. Patrick’s Center. Since its inception 32 years ago, the Mass and breakfast have raised more than $4.5 million, including $260,000 this year.
No matter how much is raised, however, the need continues to grow. Last year, the center distributed nearly 550,000 meals. They offered showers to more than 1,500 people and laundry for 618. More than 7,500 families visited the Clothes Closet, and transportation was provided for more than 8,600.
Among the services offered at the St. Patrick’s Center is a senior nutrition program, supplemental food for seniors, transportation for seniors and those with disabilities, a day shelter for the homeless, a clothing bank, recreational and educational opportunities, social worker assistance and more.
One of the speakers at the breakfast was Terrance Garner, who began volunteering at the St. Patrick’s Center shortly after he arrived in Wilmington in 2022. He was hired to work in the food program in May 2023. He shared his story about the impact of the St. Patrick’s Center on his life.
“Without the St. Patrick’s Center, I wouldn’t have anything,” Garner said.
The center gave him a place to eat and shower when he was struggling. He found people willing to listen when he needed to talk. Everybody who enters the St. Patrick’s Center leaves with something, Garner said.
“You all are helping, you are reaching,” he said. “I just want to say thank you.”
Before the breakfast, Bishop Koenig was the principal celebrant at Mass at St. Patrick’s Church. He was joined by Father Joseph McQuaide, the pastor; Oblate Father Chris Beretta, principal of Salesianum School; Oblate provincial Father Jack Kolodziej; and Father Roger DiBuo, pastor of St. Elizabeth Church in Wilmington.
In his homily, Bishop Koenig urged the congregation to trust in God as Patrick did when he was captured by Irish pirates from his home in Britain and taken to Ireland, where he worked as a shepherd. After becoming a priest, he returned to Ireland, putting his trust in God.
“Patrick’s life yielded great fruit precisely because he trusted in the Lord,” the bishop said.
It is a lesson we can all learn from, he continued. We tend to forget that we need to trust God, “even when it’s difficult, even when it hurts. In those times of great trial, do we trust that God’s providence and love can see what we cannot see?
“As we celebrate today, may we learn from his example that a fruitful life finds its anchor in Christ.”
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