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Days and Holy Days in June Understanding the church year With
Whit Sunday, 8 June, we begin the second half of the
Christian Calendar Year. Now , in this second half of the year (from Whitsuntide back to Advent) our attention is focused on Man's response to God - through faith, through commitment, through loving deeds and through trying to understand Christ's transforming work within each individual man and woman. So the smaller festivals of this second half of the year give us a magnificent opportunity. As we remember the lives of different saints down the centuries, we too can seek to respond to the promptings of the Holy Spirit in our own lives. 8 Pentecost/ Whit Sunday On Ascension Day the sequence of events that began at Easter was completed. Christ ascended to his Father in heaven, and now it was the turn of the Holy Spirit to come down to earth (the story is found in Acts 2: 1 - 8). Pentecost is the feast on which the Church celebrates the gift of the Holy Spirit. With his enabling power, the Church was soon off to a flying start, an incredibly dramatic expansion in its earliest, formative period. So no wonder Pentecost Sunday is a major feast in the Christian year. In fact, in many Christian traditions, Pentecost comes second in importance only to Easter itself. Pentecost is sometimes called 'Whitsun' (literally, 'white Sunday') on account of the tradition of the clergy wearing white robes on this day. The Holy Spirit is of major importance to Christian thought and life. When we read through the book of Acts, we find evidence of his presence everywhere - guiding, encouraging, and empowering the apostles. In more recent times, the rise of the charismatic movement within the worldwide church has led to an increased awareness of the powerful role of the Spirit in each of our Christian lives. Pentecost falls on the fiftieth day after Easter, when, according to Luke's account, the Holy Spirit descended on the disciples in Jerusalem, who were gathered there on Jesus' instructions. ("Do not leave Jerusalem, but wait for the gift my Father promised.") Even so, the Holy Spirit's arrival astounded everyone. The disciples certainly did not expect a sound like a mighty rushing wind from heaven, tongues of fire coming to rest on their heads, and the gift of being able to praise God in languages unknown to them. Luke's description of Pentecost focuses on the impact of the event on people: the disciples were empowered to preach the gospel, and to break down the barriers of language separating them and their audiences. Theologically, the coming of the Spirit thus occupies a significant role in the scheme of salvation, in that it can be seen as a reversal of the 'tower of Babel' (Genesis 11: 1 -32). 15 Trinity Sunday Trinity Sunday is the last major feast of the Christian year. It celebrates the Christian doctrine of the Trinity, in which God is understood to be revealed as Father, Son and Holy Spirit. Liturgically, the remainder of the year is reckoned in terms as 'Sundays after Trinity' until the cycle resumes again on Advent Sunday. No one has ever pretended that the doctrine of the Trinity is easy to understand. In fact, it is unquestionably one of the most perplexing aspects of Christian theology. The casual reader of the Scriptures will find only two verses in the entire Bible that seem, at first glance, to be capable of a full Trinitarian interpretation: Matthew 28.19 and 2 Corinthians 13.14. 'Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptising them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit...' 'May the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all...' But of course the doctrine is not based on just these two verses! Instead, its foundations are built on the pattern of divine activity found throughout the Bible, especially the New Testament. Time after time, New Testament verses link together the Father, Son and Holy Spirit. What emerges is that the Father is revealed in Christ through the Spirit. It seems as if God's saving presence and power can only be expressed by involving all three elements. (For example, see 1 Corinthians 12: 4 - 6; 2 Corinthians 1: 21; Galatians 4.6; Ephesians 2. 20 -2; 2 Thessalonians 2: 13 - 14; Titus 3. 4 - 6 and 1 Peter 1.2.) The one who is arguably responsible for the development of distinctive Trinitarian terminology is Tertullian, born about 160 AD, and the first theologian to write in Latin. He invented the word trinity - or trinitas. And such was his influence on Christian theology, that his term became normative within the western church. Some Christians down the centuries have explained the doctrine of the Trinity by using the simple model of the sun (Father) in the heavens, which has both light coming from it (Jesus) and heat (the Holy Spirit). All one, all one source, but still three. Some theologians prefer to speak of 'Creator, Redeemer, and Sustainer' rather than the traditional 'Father, Son and Holy Spirit'. 15 Father's Day The third Sunday in June is Father's Day. Ever wonder how the idea of Father's Day came about? Well.... It all started way back in 1909 because of a woman in Spokane, Washington, named Sonora Louise Smart Dodd. That year she heard a church sermon about the merits of setting aside a day to honour one's mother. Mother's Day was just beginning to gather widespread attention in the United States at this time. But Sonora Louise Smart Dodd knew that it was her father who had selflessly raised herself and her five siblings by himself after their mother had died in childbirth. So the sermon on mothers gave Sonora Lousie the idea to petition for a day to honour fathers, and in particular, her own father, William Jackson Smart. Sonora Louise soon set about planning the first Father's Day celebration in Spokane in 1910. With support from the Spokane Ministerial Association and the YMCA, her efforts paid off, and a 'Father's Day' was appointed. Sonora Louise had wanted Father's Day to be on the first Sunday in June (since that was her father's birthday), but the city council didn't have time to approve it until later in the month. And so on June 19, 1910, the first Father's Day was celebrated in Spokane. Gradually, other people in other cities caught on and started celebrating their fathers, too. The rose was selected as the official Father's Day flower. Some people began to wear a white rose to honour a father who was dead, and a red one to honour a father who was living. Finally, in 1972, President Richard Nixon signed a presidential proclamation declaring the third Sunday of June as Father's Day - a permanent, national holiday. Today, Father's Day is a great time to celebrate any sort of male role models, like uncles or grandfathers, as well as dads. Certainly Father's Day has become a day for greeting card companies to rejoice, and sales of the most popular gifts for Dad (shirts, ties, and electric razors) increase considerably. Perhaps most telling of all, though, is how children continue to see their fathers: more 'collect calls' to home are recorded on Father's Day in America then on any other day of the year! 24 Midsummer's Day Editor: June, of course is the month of the summer solstice, the month of the Sun. While the Druids worship at Stonehenge and elsewhere, here some Christian alternatives that honour the Creator rather than the created. A
Canticle for Brother Sun God
in All 29 Feast of SS Peter & Paul The two most famous apostles are remembered this month, for they share a feast day. St Peter (d. c. 64AD), originally called Simon, was a married fisherman from Bethsaida, near the Sea of Galilee. He met Jesus through his brother, Andrew. Jesus gave him the name of Cephas (Peter) which means rock. Peter is always named first in the list of apostles. He was one of the three apostles who were privileged to witness the Transfiguration, the raising of the daughter of Jairus, and the Agony in the Garden. When Peter made his famous confession of faith, that Jesus was the Christ, Jesus recognised it as being the result of a revelation from the Father. He in turn told Peter that he would be the rock on which his Church would be built, that the 'gates of hell' would never prevail against it. Peter and the apostles would have the power of 'binding and loosing', but Peter would be personally given 'the keys of the kingdom of heaven'. Jesus also forewarned Peter of his betrayal and subsequent strengthening of the other apostles. After his Resurrection, Jesus appeared to Peter before the other apostles, and later entrusted him with the mission to feed both the lambs and the sheep of Christ's flock. Peter played a big part in the early Church, and is mentioned many times in the Book of Acts, where in the early chapters he organised the choice of Judas' successor, preached with stirring authority at Pentecost; and was the very first apostle to work a miracle. Peter went on to defend the apostles' right to teach at the Sanhedrim, and to condemn Ananias and Sapphira. It was Peter who first realised that Christianity was also for the gentiles, after his meeting with Cornelius. Later he took a prominent part in the council at Jerusalem, and went on to clash with St Paul at Antioch for hesitating about eating with gentiles. Early tradition links Peter with an apostolate and martyrdom at Rome. The New Testament does not tell us either way, but Peter being in Rome would make sense, especially as Peter's first epistle refers to 'Babylon', which was usually identified with Rome. Peter's presence in Rome is mentioned by early church fathers such as Clement of Rome and Irenaeus. Tradition also tells us that Peter suffered under Nero and was crucified head-downwards. There is no conclusive proof either way that St Peter's relics are at the Vatican, but it is significant that Rome is the only city that ever claimed to be Peter's place of death. St Peter was a major influence on Mark when writing his gospel, and the First Epistle of Peter was very probably his. (Many scholars believe that the Second Epistle was written at a later date.) From very early times Peter was invoked by Christians as a universal saint. He was the heavenly door-keeper, the patron of the Church and the papacy, a saint both powerful and accessible. In England there were important dedications to Peter from early times: monasteries such as Canterbury, Glastonbury, Malmesbury, Peterborough, Lindisfarne, Whitby, Wearmouth, and especially Westminster. Cathedrals were named after him, too: York, Lichfield, Worcester and Selsey. In all, it has been calculated that 1,129 pre-Reformation churches were dedicated to St Peter, and another 283 to SS Peter and Paul together. Images of Peter are innumerable, but his portraiture remains curiously the same: a man with a square face, a bald or tonsured head, and a short square, curly beard. Not surprisingly, his chief emblem is a set of keys, sometimes along with a ship or fish. St Paul (d. c. 65) Like Peter, Paul also started life with another name: Saul. This great apostle to the Gentiles was a Jew born in Tarsus, and brought up by Gamaliel as a Pharisee. So keen was he to defend the god of his fathers that he became a persecutor of Christianity, and even took part in the stoning of Stephen. He hunted Christians down and imprisoned them, and it was while on his way to persecute more Christians in Damascus that he was suddenly given his vision of Christ. It was the decisive moment of Paul's life - Paul suddenly realised that Jesus was truly the Messiah, and the Son of God, and that He was calling Paul to bring the Christian faith to the Gentiles. Paul was then healed of his temporary blindness, baptised, and retired to Arabia for about three years of prayer and solitude, before returning to Damascus. From then on Paul seems to have lived a life full of hazard and hardship. He made many Jewish enemies, who stoned him, and wanted to kill him. Nevertheless, Paul made three great missionary journeys, first to Cyprus, then to Asia Minor and eastern Greece, and lastly to Ephesus, where he wrote 1 Corinthians, then to Macedonia and Achaia, where he wrote Romans, before returning to Jerusalem. After stonings, beatings and imprisonment in Jerusalem he was sent to Rome for trial as a Roman citizen. On the way he was shipwrecked at Malta; when he finally reached Rome he was put under house-arrest for two years, during which time he wrote the four 'captivity' epistles. Later Paul may have revisited Ephesus and even have reached Spain. Tradition tells he was eventually martyred at Rome during the persecution of Nero, being beheaded (as a Roman citizen) at Tre Fontane and buried where the basilica of S Paul 'outside the walls' now stands. The belief that Peter and Paul died on the same day was caused by their sharing the same feast day. Paul was not only a tireless missionary, but a great thinker. His epistles played a major part in the later development of Christian theology. Paul's key ideas include that Redemption is only through faith in Christ, who abrogated the old Law and began the era of the Spirit; that Christ is not just the Messiah, but the eternal, pre-existent Son of God, exalted after the Resurrection to God's right-hand; that the Church is the (mystical) body of Christ; that the believers live in Christ and will eventually be transformed by the final resurrection. It is difficult to overemphasise the influence of Paul on Christian thought and history: he had a major effect on Augustine, Thomas Aquinas, Luther, Calvin and others. In art, Paul is depicted as small in stature, bald and bandy-legged, with a long face, long nose and eyebrows meeting over deep-set eyes. His usual emblems are a sword and a book. In England he was never as popular as St Peter, and ancient English churches dedicated to him alone number only 43. The history of the relics of Peter and Paul is not very clear. Tradition says that Peter was buried at the Vatican and Paul on the Ostian Way under his basilica. Certainly both apostles were venerated from very early times both in the Liturgy and in private prayers, as testified by Greek and Latin graffiti in the catacombs of the early 3rd century. |