June 29: Peter and Paul. One who denied and was restored. One who persecuted and was arrested by grace. They argued in Antioch. They were martyred in Rome. The Church has never thought it necessary to choose between them. That is what the joint feast says.
June 24: the Nativity of John the Baptist. One of only two births celebrated in the Anglican calendar, the other being Christmas. The Church does not observe birthdays generally. That it has kept June 24 since the fourth century says everything about John’s place in salvation history.
On the Feast of Saint Barnabas, we meet a man who lived the commissioning of Matthew 10:7–16. He sold his field to help the poor, vouched for Paul when no one else would, and stepped aside so the Gospel could advance. Barnabas sought not his own renown but the well-being of the Church.
Today the Church observes the Feast of Saint Barnabas. He stood before the apostles in Jerusalem and vouched for Saul when no one else would. If he had been wrong, the cost would have been real. He was not wrong. The man he testified for wrote half the New Testament.
Why does the church observe a feast rooted in the Advent story on May 31st — right in the middle of Trinity season? The answer reveals something surprising about how the church orders time, and something beautiful about the scene at the heart of this feast.
May 1: Feast of Philip and James. Philip asked the question that drew the greatest Christological declaration in John’s Gospel. James left no recorded word at all. Both are honored as apostles. Both shapes of witness belong to the Church.