Ordinary Time

I have a deep and abiding appreciation for the liturgical calendar of the Church.  It provides a framework and rhythm for remembering... for remembering God's redeeming and intervening work in human lives and history, for remembering the power and wonder of the Holy Spirit, for remembering to pause and reflect and confess.  And so Advent, Christmas, Epiphany, the Baptism of the Lord, Lent, Holy Week, Easter, and Pentecost provide that ongoing rhythm of faith and life, of worship and prayer within the community of the Church.

But here we are today.  It's just after the first of the Sundays in "Ordinary Time."  For those of you not as familiar with the liturgical year, there are two Ordinary Times during the year:  between the Baptism of the Lord and Ash Wednesday, and between Pentecost and Advent.  Just as our Book of Confessions has the Shorter Catechism and the Larger Catechism, ... (and can anyone tell me why it's "shorter" and "larger," and not "shorter" and "longer," or "smaller" and "larger"?  Inquiring minds want to know!) ... so there is a shorter and longer duration of Ordinary Time every year.  The challenge, at least for me, is that these weeks are so, well, "ordinary."  There's not the anticipation of Advent, the wonder of Christmas, the solemnity of Lent, the joy of Easter, or the celebration of Pentecost.  It's all just "ordinary."

Yet isn't this, too, part of the beauty and wisdom of the liturgical calendar?  These two seasons of the year remind us that God comes to us where we live most all the time - in the routines of life that is ordinary.  To be sure, there are times of joy and celebration and wonder in our lives, just as there are times of pain and grief and even despair.  But most of life for us is lived neither in the heights nor in the depths.  Rather, most of life is, yes, ordinary.

God is with us in the "ordinariness" of life, too.  God is with us when things just go on and on each day.  God is with us when life feels boring.  God is with us in the mundane routines of our lives.  God is still Immanuel.  Christ still suffered with us and for us, and then rose in power for us.  The Spirit still fills us with power and gifts for ministry and witness.

All in the "ordinary" times of our lives.

Blessings and peace,

Steve