Holy Months

The Rev. Michael K. Templin / Trinitytide, 2023, Issue 7

When you think of “holy months,” June is perhaps not the first to come to mind for most Christians! December with Advent and Christmas is an obvious one. March and April most years have Lent and Holy Week - but June is not one most think about. In the traditional one year lectionary in the 1662 and 1928 Books of Common Prayer, June actually has three red letter saints day. St. Barnabas (June 11), the Nativity of St. John the Baptist (June 24), and St. Peter’s Day (June 29). June 13 is also the latest possible date for Pentecost, and June often contains Trinity Sunday (these dates are based upon the date of Easter). St. Barnabas Day (June 11) has been celebrated in our church since the time of the Venerable Bede.

St. Barnabas was a companion to St. Paul and St. Mark. After several years of missionary work for others, he returned to his native Cyprus, where he was eventually stoned by the Jews in Salamis. Blunt records that his body was found in the 4th century, buried with a Hebrew copy of St. Matthew’s Gospel on his chest. On his feast day, we should pray that God would, too, make us “sons of encouragement.” It’s so easy to be critical, angry, pessimistic, and sarcastic, but what if we started to encourage others instead? What if we looked for God’s grace in those situations and shared grace with others? That seems the best way to honor the holy martyr St. Barnabas.

St. John the Baptist’s Nativity (June 24) is the next of the June feast days. This is an incredibly early feast day in the calendar of the church, John being the last prophet of the Old Covenant, the cousin of Jesus, and his nativity is recorded in detail in the Gospel of Luke. Make no mistake about the importance of the feast's close proximity with the Summer solstice - St. John “came to bear witness of the Light” (John 1:6-8), while the Light himself appears in the darkest time of the year. St. John’s Nativity is a wonderful time to reflect on his ministry - a life of selfless sacrifice as the forerunner of the Messiah. How can we decrease and let Christ increase in our lives?

St. John the Baptist’s Nativity (June 24) is the next of the June feast days. This is an incredibly early feast day in the calendar of the church, John being the last prophet of the Old Covenant, the cousin of Jesus, and his nativity is recorded in detail in the Gospel of Luke. Make no mistake about the importance of the feast's close proximity with the Summer solstice - St. John “came to bear witness of the Light” (John 1:6-8), while the Light himself appears in the darkest time of the year. St. John’s Nativity is a wonderful time to reflect on his ministry - a life of selfless sacrifice as the forerunner of the Messiah. How can we decrease and let Christ increase in our lives?

Finally, we come to the Feast of St. Peter the Apostle (June 29). Peter is often referred to as the “prince of the Apostles” - he was Jesus’ closest follower, he was the de facto leader in the early Church, and he is credited with founding two of the most important sees in Christendom, Antioch, and Rome, which are both led by Patriarchs. John Henry Blunt records that this festival was originally a commemoration of saints Peter and Paul, and is one of the oldest festivals in the church. It is often noted that St. Peter was crucified upside down in Rome. His relics have been preserved in St. Peter’s Basilica in Rome since antiquity. One of the encouraging things we should glean from Peter’s life is that he was wrong on several occasions in the Gospels and Acts, and yet Jesus continued to use him powerfully after he repented. This is good news for those of us who mess up regularly: repent, obey Jesus, and get back to work…God is not done with you yet! The lives of the saints stand as shining examples for us to continue in the faith once delivered. When we are discouraged, let us return to the saints for help in perseverance during the trials that living as a Christian in the secular age will most certainly face.

The Rev. Michael K. Templin serves as assisting priest at St. Benedict’s Anglican Church and serves at the Reformed Episcopal cathedral Church of the Holy Communion in Dallas Texas.