Once upon a time there was a leprechaun. That leprechaun loved to spend his days in Ireland’s green fields, frolicking to his heart’s content. People would ask the Leprechaun, “Why do you love to frolic, so?” And he would always say, “As long as there be gold at the end of me rainbow, I will frolic for thanks of it.” He said this because he was thankful. He said it like this because leprechauns are notoriously bad at grammar.

One Saturday morning, the leprechaun awoke with a start. “Something be not right,” he thought. As he emerged from his hole, he saw to his everlasting horror, that his once-green frolicking fields were now covered in a frosty white powder. Looking at this strange cold substance, he wondered aloud, “What this is?” From behind him, he heard a voice say, “This, Mr. Leprechaun, is snow. The voice also said, “Your grammar is atrocious.” The Leprechaun turned to find none other than Jack Frost nipping at his nose.

The Leprechaun stepped slowly out of his hole and onto the freshly fallen snow. This proved to be a terrible idea, because as his foot hit the ground, he immediately slipped and began to slide. He slid, and slid, and slid some more, until he finally tumbled headlong over the Cliffs of Moher and into the Atlantic Ocean. “I think I do not this snow like” he thought as he climbed from the icy waters. “I shall heretofore cancel all of me frolicking activities until the weather improves.”

The leprechaun then made his way back to his hole, and shut himself in. For four days, Jack Frost stayed outside the Leprechaun’s hole. He made the snow fall, and with his chilling breath, kept the sun away. But on the fifth day, Jack Frost’s breath failed him. Slowly, the sun began to peak through the clouds and what was once white powder began to slowly turn to a brownish slush. On the seventh day, the leprechaun peaked his head above ground, and was delighted to see hints of green emerging where snow once stood. And as he squinted through the blue sky, he swore he could make out the beginnings of a rainbow—his rainbow—on the horizon.

“Tomorrow, I frolic again,” he said with a smile.

THE END

After a week of postponements and cancellations due to the snow, we are finally getting back to work. As you may be able to tell, being confined to the house had me going a little crazy. A busy week awaits as we prepare to travel to Galway this weekend to lead a day of Advent Prayer and Reflections. Please keep us in your prayers as we go, and we’ll be sure to do the same for you.