Understanding Ordinary Time

On Sunday, January 12th, the season of Advent ended with the Baptism of the Lord, and we returned to Ordinary Time. So what exactly is Ordinary Time? First and foremost, Ordinary Time is not very ordinary at all. It's the longest season in the Church’s calendar year, comprising 33 and sometimes 34 weeks, divided into two sections, one short and the other very long.

The weeks between Christmas and Lent are the shorter part of Ordinary Time, while the weeks from Pentecost to Advent form the long stretch. The word ordinary comes from the word ordinal, which means counted. Each week is known by a number. For example, the 20th Sunday in Ordinary Time or the second Sunday in Ordinary Time. The use of the term Ordinary Time in our liturgical calendar distinguishes it from the other seasons.

Advent, Christmas. Lent, and Easter, all focus on particular aspects of the life of Jesus Christ His birth, suffering, death, and resurrection. The Sundays and weeks of Ordinary Time take us through the ministry and the teaching of Jesus. It gives us time to reflect on how we live as Christians. We have 33 weeks to examine and order our lives while we focus on particular gospel messages.

Ordinary Time is a time to deepen one's prayer life. Read and study Scripture. Unite ourselves more deeply with the Lord in the Eucharist and try to become a more holy person. Ordinary Time is a period when people like us strive to become messengers of the gospel that we were commissioned to spread through our baptism. Ordinary Time is this day. This moment in time.

Green is the color of Ordinary Time. Our green vestments and decorations tell us much about their significance in the Church’s life. Green is the color of growth and new life. It's the color of grass and trees and plants. It’s the color of the world that we see all around us. Another symbol of Ordinary Time is two fish in a basket of bread, representing the miracle of the loaves and the fishes.

We cannot speak of Ordinary Time without speaking of Sundays. Sunday, the every seven-day celebration of the Lord’s Day, is the basic structure upon which the Church year is built. This year, we will be reading the Gospel of Luke on Sundays. The goal toward which all of history is directed is represented by that final Sunday in Ordinary Time, the feast of Christ the King.

Ordinary Time deserves to be lived extraordinarily in the depths of our own hearts, in our families, and with our worshiping community. It is important for us to immerse ourselves into the spirituality of Ordinary Time, because Ordinary Time contains the essence of who we are in the everyday living of our Christian lives.

Saint Teresa, pray for us.