June Drinking Companion

There were so many great saints to pick this month. First I wanted to do my patron Anthony, who in challenging times and literal shipwreck, trusted God to become one of the greatest saints in 2000 years of history. Then I remembered he was last years saint for June. Then I thought about Justin Martyr, who died in 165 A.D. and left us some amazing history to learn from. First his writings that show how liturgy was celebrated back in his time, pre-Constantine era, 100 years after Jesus’ time. Second he was a testament to standing up to authority. He had a deep philosophical debate with the prefect of his time, and when the prefect wanted Justin to worship the government of Rome, he simply refused and gave his life to martyrdom. For clarification, that means he laid his life down without harming 1 person, like his teacher/God Jesus. Our current society confuses this, they think a martyr can commit violence against another.

Then there’s John the Baptist my favorite story who I love to share during this month. His feast day is celebrated June 24, just after the longest day of the year, the summer solstice. From that point on, light begins to decrease, just as John himself, the final prophet, says “I must decrease, and He must increase.” John says this in reference to Jesus, God himself must increase in all our lives. This is why we celebrate Christmas days after the winter solstice, the shortest day of the year. Light from that point on increases, and in true form of John’s words, Jesus the light of the world must increase.

This is powerful stuff, that for good reason has been ingrained into our society. It is to acknowledge the merging of the natural world phenomenon’s, which some might call paganism. In that acknowledgement of tradition, it’s a beautiful way of showing there’s a greater understanding and fulfillment of these natural occurrences in nature. Our modern Gregorian calendar as well, is a perfection of Catholic Christian scientific thought. We try to erase history by calling it B.C.E. and C.E. but sadly that’s a lie, there’s nothing common about these moments. Consider researching how it came to be the standard of the world.

This brings me back to John. He was a radical man, that ate honey and locust. Is that considered vegan by the way? He spoke out against things that were morally wrong in his time, and the authority beheaded him. He even struggled in those moments leading up to his death. He sent a messenger to ask Jesus, are you really “the one?” We are all like John, asking, Jesus are you really our savior that can fix all of this mess? Do I really need a savior?

The answer is as simple as Jesus’ reply (Matt 11), you have seen the miraculous that only God can do. He then follows up and says all in the kingdom are greater than John who is the greatest born of a woman. These are powerful words that teach us, that yes we need saving, but most of all this world is hardly a blip on the radar to our true greatness. These are challenging times, and yet the fear and violence is no different from any other time in history. I listen to podcasts on our American history, and it’s fascinating how over the past 250+ plus years, we’re fighting about many of the same things other did 100 and 200 years ago. This is human history.

In close I want to reiterate the saying on my right arm, I hope to extend to everyone I meet. Faith Hope Love May peace be with you. Just like John have faith God will make straight with crooked lines. Have hope this is only the beginning, not the end. Most of all love, we reap what we sow and anything oppressing another, will eventually lead to our own oppression whether it’s physically or spiritually. It’s not easy, but peace will be upon you if you are strong enough to walk away from committing the sin, life tempts us towards. This is all the evil going one around us, evil doesn’t have a preference of race, creed, gender, or whatever your political label. It’s goal is to divide and destroy families, friends, or whatever else God brings together. We must have fortitude to withstand this, John was a great example in his life. You don’t have to eat honey and locust, but consider the humility of John the Baptist. He achieved great things. I was fortunate to visit the tomb of his father when I was in Venice. To my disbelief I discovered his tomb near my hotel, just roaming and visiting churches as I often do. Sometimes I find coffee, other times something greater than myself. This is usually the result however, the more I learn, the less I actually know.

The upper casing is Zachariah, father of John the Baptist in San Zaccaria in Venice. Below him is St. Athanasius of Alexandria, a great teacher of early Christian doctrine.