Ordinary Time: Is
any Time Ordinary?
Today, the Church is celebrating
the Feast of the Baptism of the Lord. It
is a day when many churches mark this day by inviting the faithful to make a
renewal of their baptismal promises.
This feast today also brings to a close the Advent/Christmas season:
those several weeks when the four Sundays leading up to Christmas, the Advent
Sundays, emphasized the time of preparation for the birthday of the Lord, and
then the feasts of Christmas, Holy Family, the Feast of Mary the Mother of God,
and Epiphany.
As we look back at these two seasons,
Advent and Christmas, we probably recall a whirlwind of activity, many hectic
days, beautiful and joyous family celebrations, when families gathered and we
looked with great joy at children delighted with special Christmas
presents. Some families traveled to be
with the extended family, others welcomed grandparents, aunts, uncles and
cousins to their homes. We welcomed the
Savior once again into our lives and hopefully took the time to reflect on the
richness of grace, the many graces, that Advent and Christmas celebrations
offer to us.
Tomorrow, January 12, 2015, we will
begin what the Church calls ‘Ordinary Time’.
What exactly is Ordinary Time?
Next Sunday, when we come to Mass and the welcome is made and we are
invited to gather to celebrate the First Sunday in Ordinary Time, and the week
after, the Second Sunday, and so on for weeks afterward, those words of welcome
to Ordinary Time will probably go in one ear and out the other. It’s only ‘ordinary time’.
Ordinary Time is that period of weeks
that begin right after the Christmas season that leads up to the beginning of
the Season of Lent on Ash Wednesday.
Then, for six weeks of Lent and the seven weeks of the Easter Season,
Ordinary Time is replaced by the most important period of the Church year: we will make the journey of renewal of mind
and heart from Ash Wednesday, February 18, 2015 until Holy Week, beginning Palm
(Passion) Sunday, March 29th and then the celebration of the
Resurrection of the Lord, April 5th, and then the seven weeks of the
Easter Season, taking us to May 24th, the feast of Pentecost.
On the day of Pentecost, May 25th,
we are back to Ordinary Time again until the end of November, when the holy
season of Advent will be upon us once again.
When we stop to think about it, no time is really ordinary time, whether
we think about it in terms of the Church’s liturgical seasons and celebrations
or not. In our daily lives, we will
celebrate all kinds of special days:
birthday, wedding anniversaries, etc.
There will be the days when we remember the passing of loved ones. Young people will look forward to vacations
from school, getting a summer job, maybe reaching that special age when they
can get their driving permit. In some
families, there will be that special joy when someone gets married, when new
babies come into this world and into our families. Some may reach their day of retirement and
begin a whole new season of life. So,
ordinary time, not really, especially if we walk each day in companionship with
the Lord and those very special people we call our own…
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