Dear Father,
I keep hearing at my parish about ordinary time. The announcers at the beginning of Mass say things like “Today is the 13th Sunday in ordinary time” and I read things like that in the bulletin. The deacons and priests also use it in their homilies but never explain what it means. What in the world does ordinary time mean?
-Horatio
Dear Horatio,
I agree that speaking about ordinary time at church is a strange sounding concept. Sadly, it gives the impression that we’re in a rather blah season, that there’s nothing special about this Sunday or the Mass in ordinary time. Fortunately, that’s not true.
Each day for a Catholic is a celebration of the mysteries of Christ’s life. The greatest of the events or mysteries of Christ’s life is the Resurrection, which we especially highlight every Sunday. That’s why we go to church every Sunday. Every Sunday is like a mini-Easter celebration. Sunday is set aside to worship and thank God with your whole being. Every Sunday is an opportunity for astonishing transformation by God touching your life with His own divine life.
That said, just as our civil calendar year has different seasons, so too does the calendar year of the Church. Earth’s seasons center around the sun and its effects on our planet. The Church’s season center on The Son and the effects of His rays of grace on our souls.
The four major seasons of our Catholic calendar are Advent (in preparation for Christmas), Christmas (to celebrate Christ’s coming into our world), Lent (to do penance and prepare for Easter) and Easter (to celebrate Christ’s resurrection from the dead).
The Sundays between Christmas season and Lent used to be called “Sundays after Epiphany” before our calendar was revised after the Second Vatican Council. And the Sundays between Easter season and the next Advent season used to be called “Sundays after Pentecost.”
We now refer to those “Sundays after … ” as Sundays in Ordinary Time. If you look in the Latin edition of the Roman Missal, the title for Sundays in Ordinary Time is Tempus per annum, or “time through the year.” When the word “ordinary” was chosen to translate that Latin phrase as “through the year,” it was to indicate the succession of the Sundays outside of major seasons. They are “ordered,” that is, they start with the number one and keep going till we get to the end of the Catholic year. Thus, we see the connection between the word “ordinary” and ordinal numbers, such as first, second, third, and so on.
This article is appearing in The Catholic Times weekend edition for the 26th Sunday in Ordinary Time. In other words, it’s the 26th Sunday running through our year that is not situated in the Advent, Christmas, Lent and Easter seasons.
Also, the entire week following the Sunday is named for the number of the Sunday. Thus, the 26th Sunday in Ordinary Time begins the 26th Week in Ordinary Time.
During the Sundays of Ordinary Time, you will hear gospel passages that are mostly a successive reading of the Gospel. This is your opportunity to reflect on how Christ’s words and actions are meant for you. The prayers that the priest offers also are occasions for you to unite your heart to the prayer of the entire Church and to ask God for all the graces you need.
Here’s what our U.S. Bishops tell us: “Ordinary Time is a time for growth and maturation, a time in which the mystery of Christ is called to penetrate ever more deeply into history until all things are finally caught up in Christ. The goal, toward which all of history is directed, is represented by the final Sunday in Ordinary Time, the Solemnity of Our Lord Jesus Christ, King of the Universe.”
Much of life is like the ordered Sundays of the year: there is no special season or momentous event much of the time. However, we don’t just sit around waiting for the next big season or event. We live life fully as each day unfolds…or so we should. Take advantage of every minute that God gives you on this earth. That includes going to Mass on weekdays to be formed by God in ways that you can’t imagine. Nothing is ever ordinary with God. His providence weaves each moment of each day of our lives with all the moments of the lives of every other person in order to create a beautiful tapestry. We’ll see the finished product on the other side of the grave.
