June 2018
Dear Friends,
From the rising of the sun to its setting,
your name be praised, O Light of the World!
Truly, Jesus Christ is our sun of righteousness.
He is a sun which never sets,
he is a light which no one can extinguish.
Summer means sun. The sea is warm and welcoming. Waves splash laughter into the eyes of happy swimmers. Summer is a time of depth and growth. It is the time when we achieve much and shape who we are. Summer more than any other time is for being out and about, travelling to see some of the sights and wonders of the world, or perhaps simply to relax and rest. We seek to enjoy life and live it to the full. We will pass exams and pass many milestones. It is a time for stretching and journeying; a time of opportunities and success.
Yet it can also be a time of danger. The summer flood tide can overwhelm and destroy. The hot summer sun burns wet skin. Gardens and streets become oppressive; people are uncomfortable and tired. Plants wither in the heat, crying for moisture; the street is dusty and its surface cracks; humans search for shade and long for a breeze. Sometimes, the sun-worshippers, who had bared all to the rays of the sun, find their over-exposed skin unbearable.
Oddly, summer is bereft of Christian symbol and celebration. There is almost a standstill between Pentecost and harvest festival. This surely suggests that summer is a time to reflect, to explore, to rest and to enjoy. Summer is a time to change your routine and to discover the amazing depth of the ordinary.
I hope that you find time this summer to explore the wonder of creation and appreciate the great mystery of God through the deep mysteries of creation. May we find a reverence for and a respect of the world in which we live. Use it until you discover the extra-ordinary that lies in the depths of all things.
God of the summer’s day, we worship you.
God of the lingering sunset and early dawn, we worship you.
God of the warm breeze and refreshing shower,
God of the growing tree and opening flower,
God of the ripening harvest and sparkling sea,
we worship you.
With love and prayers
