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From Canon Ann Easter, Chaplain to the Queen:

What a weekend of contrasts.ÌýÌý After that terrible massacre in Orlando our hearts go out to all those affected by that hideous deed.Ìý A millions miles away from that crime of hate, I was fortunate enough to be involved in a special service that was full of love – to mark the birthday of her majesty the Queen in Sandon in Essex.

We had a great time; the church was packed and the rain held off for the barbeque. Great. I left before they started to clear up – just as well ‘cos you never know what you might find, do you? Last time we had a do at ours, I found a strange spoon and some false teeth! And, do you know, no-one has owned up to either of them!!

I’m always losing things, it drives me mad but, when I’ve stopped swearing, I send up a prayer to St Anthony because he’s the patron saint of things or people that are lost. And this is because St Anthony, whose feast day it is today, had a book of the Psalms and he’d written a lot of notes and comments on it – and, of course, in the thirteenth century, books were very precious – but one of his fellow friars took it and did a bunk! Anthony prayed and the man, and the book, came back – lovely.

It’s not always that easy though; sometimes people and things stay lost and there’s a sense in which, as life goes on, we seem to spend an awful lot of time and emotion dealing with loss.Ìý And even St Anthony can’t help. But I’d say that those people and things are not entirely gone; I believe that God gathers up all those treasures for us and keeps them safe so that we might one day be reunited with them in Heaven. And, meanwhile, something of the relationships we’ve had becomes part of us – when we hear ourselves saying those things our parents used to say, when we remember a teacher’s wisdom and use it, then we realise that it’s the love that we’ve shared that goes to make us what we are.

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