During this liturgical season, we are called to grow closer to Jesus through his teachings and miracles — just as his disciples did.
Articles by Susan Erschen
Our Sunday Visitor Newsweekly
June 11, 2015
If you had lived in Galilee when Jesus walked its dusty roads, would you have followed him? Would you have listened to his parables? Would you have believed in his miracles? As the Church enters into the longest part of the liturgical year — a season known as Ordinary Time — these are the questions we are asked to consider.
It is ironic that the term “ordinary” would be applied to any aspect of the life of the most amazing person who ever walked the earth. Absolutely nothing about Our Lord’s life was ordinary. Wherever Jesus went, fascinated crowds gathered to catch a glimpse of him. Yet this is what we call the weeks in the Church calendar that fall outside of Advent, Christmas, Lent and Easter.
We are sadly fooled by the term “Ordinary Time.” We may see it as a time for us to take our spiritual life for granted. We might think of it as a time to get back to our ordinary life and put faith on a back burner. We are free of the sacrifices, penance and preparation of Advent and Lent. We do not have the feasting and celebration of Christmas and Easter. It seems like an easy time of the year. Nothing could be further from the truth.
Ordinary Time presents us with the extraordinary opportunity to meet Jesus as the first apostles and disciples met him. It challenges us to determine if we really believe this itinerant preacher is the Son of God. We hear Our Lord’s teachings and parables. We see his many miracles. We watch the people who actually knew him struggling to understand. And through it all, we, too, must decide whether we are true followers of this extraordinary man or just curious bystanders.
The vast majority of Ordinary Time occurs during the calendar seasons of summer growth and fall harvest. These natural seasons — along with the green vestments worn during Ordinary Time — remind us this is a time to grow in our faith by adopting simple and sustainable practices that can help us be better followers of Jesus. The Gospel readings for Ordinary Time challenge us in many ways. We are called to believe, to be healed and to journey with Christ. We are invited to take time for retreat and to be fed by Jesus. We are encouraged to feed others, to serve and to give generously. Quite simply, we are asked to decide how fully we want to follow this extraordinary man named Jesus.
Ordinary Time is the name given to that part of the Liturgical Year that does not fall within one of the major seasons – Advent, Christmas, Lent, or Easter. It numbers thirty-three or thirty-four Sundays, depending on the date of Easter. Ordinary Time is assigned to two periods of the year, the first one extending from the Epiphany of the Lord until the beginning of Lent, and the second one covering the time from Pentecost Sunday until the beginning of Advent.
In contrast to the major seasons of the Church Year, which celebrate the various moments of the History of Salvation and take on their coloration, Ordinary Time unfolds Sunday by Sunday without any particular celebration, except for a few Feasts of Devotion or of Saints. Our prayer should revolve around two main themes: that of the Sunday and that of the Church.
Sunday is the day on which we celebrate the victory of Jesus through His Cross. But it is not a question merely of recalling a past event. With great joy and faith we celebrate the deed of the Resurrection and at the same time Jesus gathers us around Him, present among His own, who have come together to listen to His Word and celebrate His Eucharist. We become filled with the desire for Jesus’ final coming in glory as we await the day on which He will come with His elect to celebrate the eternal Passover. Each Sunday is thus a “feast” that is still incomplete. It is a joyous glimpse and timid anticipation of the life that will be ours when, united with God, we will be together in heaven.
The season of Ordinary Time also introduces us in a special way into the Mystery of the Church, which was born on the day of Pentecost and is laboriously built up in our history.
Thus, Ordinary Time is a period of growth for all who follow the Liturgical Year. It is a time for accentuating all the Christian virtues. But it has nothing of the extraordinary about it. We are called to live fully the “todays”, without complaint and without looking for instant “pick-me-ups.” We must dare to live every day in all its monotony and ordinariness, for it is by our fidelity to ordinary things that the majority of us are called to be saved. Fortunately, we do not have to do this alone. We are aided in this silent and gradual spiritual growth by the Holy Spirit, who helps us to live each day to the full, and who inspires our prayers and makes our seemingly ordinary lives into an eternal offering to the glory of God.
Wasted time is not a prized commodity in American society. We are a people ruled by the clock. Time is money, because time is to be filled with purposeful controlled activity which is productive of things which can be sold. We are convinced that we must be in control of time. The last thing the productive American would want to do is waste time playing around with realities that do not produce a saleable commodity.
But the Creator of heaven and earth is described by the scriptures as the original and the best of players. Creative activity is playful, and creative people do not feel that what they do is a job. Creative people also have a sense that their creativity and all that they fashion in the creative spirit are gifts they have received. The Christian can speak of this and the contemplative vision which sees all reality as gift or grace. Our thankful response we call worship or eucharist.
We cannot speak of Ordinary Time without speaking of Sunday. The every seven-day celebration of the Lord s Day is the basic structure upon which the Church Year is built. The great Iiturgical seasons of Advent / Christmas and Lent / Easter are more expansive celebrations of particular aspects of the one paschal mystery which we celebrate every Lord's Day. These special seasons focus our attention upon critical dimensions of one mystery, a mystery so overwhelming that we are compelled to separate out its various elements for particular attention. These seasons in no way minimize the critical importance of the Sunday celebration throughout the rest of the year.
Ordinary Time is not very ordinary at all. Ordinary Time, the celebration of Sunday, is the identifying mark of the Christian community which comes together, remembering that on this first day of the week the Lord of Life was raised up and creation came at last to completion. Sunday as a day of play and worship is a sacrament of redeemed time. How we live Sunday proclaims to the world what we believe about redeemed time now and forever.
Our Church calls Ordinary Time a time to unfold the complete mystery of Christ. Yet, who can truly enjoy a good mystery by jumping around and skipping whole sections? Sadly, if the only Gospel readings we hear are those proclaimed on 52 Sundays, this is exactly how we have been hearing the mystery of Christ throughout our whole lives. This summer, why not commit to reading the full mystery of Christ’s life — cover to cover — just as we would any great mystery? There is a good reason why Pope Francis repeatedly invites all Catholics to read the Gospels. The story of Our Lord’s life is so much richer than just the selection of readings we hear on Sundays. Here is one plan for reading the four Gospels cover to cover.
Begin with Mark. It is the shortest of the Gospels.
Read Luke next. All the Gospels are not the same. Luke relates different segments of Our Lord’s life than Mark or Matthew.
Then go to John. John’s Gospel is very different from the other three. It includes much more of Our Lord’s teachings. We really hear what Jesus said and taught when we read John.
Finally, read Matthew. It is an expanded version of Mark, reinforcing the story of Jesus where we started.
Be sure to read the introductions to each Gospel, which help explain the unique contribution each Gospel writer has made in telling the overall mystery of Jesus.
Whether Ordinary Time reminds us that we need to be healed, invites us to let Our Lord feed us or challenges us to be more generous, all successful changes in our faith life must be rooted in prayer. Yet, prayer only happens if we set aside a time and a place to be alone with God.
Here are just a few ideas for bringing more prayer into our lives during the summer and fall days of Ordinary Time. Consider talking to God while:
◗ Watering the garden
◗ Cutting the grass
◗ Preparing food
◗ Rocking a fussy baby
◗ Waiting in line
◗ Commuting to work
◗ Walking, exercising, biking or hiking
◗ Writing letters to him in a prayer journal