The month of June hails the traditional beginning of the holiday period with people looking for seaside resorts either here at home or in parts of Europe around the coasts of Spain, Portugal or even further afield. The world is no longer such a big place and very little of it remains unexplored.
I discovered from my diary that every day of June has special significance in one way or another. We celebrate, or some do the days of ‘Global parents’ (1st) World Bicycle Day (3rd), National Cheese Day (4th), National Best Friends day (8th), World Blood Donors Day (14th), Father’s Day, International Sushi, and Picnic Day (18th); we even have Global Beatles Day (25th) – the world has gone mad!
In the church we celebrate Trinity Sunday (4th), a time of reflection on the three persons, yet one God who is Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. We give thanks for Corpus Christ, the body of Christ on the 8th, giving thanks for him feeding in the Sacraments and heling us in our lives. But we never lose track of the saints who gave their lives for the faith. John Fisher, an English academic and Chancellor of the University of Cambridge who refused to succumb to the wishes of Henry VIII and was executed for his faith, and Thomas More who suffered a similar fate for the same reasons (June 22), the Birth of St. John the Baptist (June 24) the Solemnity of Saint Peter and St Paul (June 29), a day when many are made deacons and others ordained priests.
But amidst all of this the world continues in chaos with bombs and rockets exploding in the peaceful cities of the Ukraine with the Russian leader seemingly focussed on nothing else but the destruction of that state. There seems to be no end in sight and people, in this conflict, and elsewhere, continue to die unnecessarily. Our economy spirals out of control and money just does not go as far as it once did. Yet, despite all of this, there remains hope, hope that good will come, hope that people will be free to live and love without fear, and hope that things will change for the better.
God is with us and on the first Sunday in June, as we celebrate the Undivided Trinity, we can give thanks that, in God, who is Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, that there is real hope through him – for without him there is surely none!
Have a lovely summer and remember that you are loved, always.
May God bless you all.
Reverend Fr. Ronald Croft