ORDINARY TIME When we hear the word “ordinary” we may turn our heads away and think to ourselves, “how dreadfully boring and plain”. Go on, admit it… and why wouldn’t we? As part of its definition, Webster’s Dictionary uses the terms “unexceptional” and “common”, and even “relatively poor and inferior”. As we have re-entered into the Liturgical Season of ‘Ordinary Time’, we may think that “nothing special is going on, so these weeks aren’t as important as Christmas and Easter”. Before we delve into the importance of Ordinary Time, let’s first determine when Ordinary Time is celebrated. There are two segments of the Season: the first beginning the Monday following the Baptism of Our Lord (which was January 13th this year) and ending on the day before Ash Wednesday March 4th); and the second segment beginning the Monday after Pentecost (June 9th), and continuing until the Saturday before the beginning of Advent (November 29th). The Liturgical color is green – a symbol of hope and growth. Now, where did the term “Ordinary Time” come from? Research shows two different thoughts. First, the Latin word ordinalis refers to numbers in a series, from which we derive the word order. Thus, in Ordinary Time, we are celebrating the ordered life of the Church. That’s why on the first Sunday celebrated in Ordinary Time, the Gospel either features John the Baptist’s acknowledgement of Christ as the Lamb of God, or Christ’s first miracle at the wedding feast at Cana. Another thought is that during Ordinary Time, we celebrate the mystery of Christ not in one specific aspect (either His birth or His death), but in all aspects. Ordinary Time is the part of the year when Christ walks among us and transforms our lives, instructing us on how to live our Christian faith each day. Not so ‘ordinary’ any more, is it?
Posted on: Sun, 06 Jul 2014 22:00:01 +0000
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