Dear Friends,
I’ll always remember my first weekend at our Beloved Immaculate Conception Parish as coinciding with 12 inches of freshly fallen snow along with the spirited thespians and narrators of the Christmas Pageant on Sunday. They embodied the theater cry of, “The show must go on!” Well done everyone! I’m very proud of you, all. Immaculate Conception strong!
In a little over four weeks we will begin the Holy Season of Lent together. However, first we enter into a period of “Ordinary Time.” How shall we pray about these weeks of Ordinary Time ahead of us? Ordinary Time is called "ordinary" from the Latin word “ordinalis,” which refers to numbers in a series. In this respect, this season also could be called “numbered time.” That is, we are not in the seasons of Advent, Christmas, Lent, or Easter, but rather we are in “numbered weeks.”
Ordinary Time consists of two periods of numbered weeks in the liturgical year. This first group of weeks is inserted between the Baptism of the Lord, which we celebrated this past Monday, and Ash Wednesday, which we will celebrate on February 14. The second and longer series of weeks is inserted between Pentecost Sunday and the beginning of Advent.
The liturgical color for Ordinary Time is green, representing life and growth. Tradition associates it with the longer period of Ordinary Time following Pentecost, the period in which the Church founded by the Risen Christ and enlivened by the Holy Spirit begins to grow and spread to the corners of the world.
Perhaps the most important thing to remember about Ordinary Time is that it is far from ordinary! Ordinary Time takes us through much of Jesus’s teaching ministry and miracles. The United States Conference of Catholic Bishops describes Ordinary Time as “the time of conversion,” “a time for growth and maturation,” and “a time in which the mystery of Christ is called to penetrate ever more deeply into history.”
It is a time to seek change in our lives where it is needed, to dive deeper into Scripture and Tradition, and to pursue a life of discipleship with sincerity and love.
In Christ,
Fr. Jim