The liturgical seasons follow one another, like the seasons of life, in the rhythm of humanity, increasingly permeating each of our lives. After closing the brief but intense period of the Christmas season, during which we were invited to marvel at the presence of a God who, out of love, becomes face, smile, heart, and goodness, the Church leads us back into Ordinary Time.

We resume the journey of everyday life

We therefore return to our daily lives, to the normality of our days, but with a different heart, because God loves us with a tender love and does not need special places or times to love us; he does not require extraordinary events to reveal himself. After the Incarnation, every place is holy and every time is sacred. God fills with wonder the difficult and ordinary present that we live with resignation or anger. Ordinary Time presents itself as a time of growth and maturity, a time in which the mystery of Christ is called to progressively penetrate the life of each of us. To live and celebrate the mystery of Christ in ordinary life means accepting the life of disciples in daily faithfulness, listening to and meeting the Teacher in everyday life, and recognizing that God bends over us and saves us in the concrete reality of our personal experience.
Ordinary Time is celebrated by the liturgy in “two acts.” The first precedes the seasons of Lent and Easter. The second follows the Easter Season and takes us to the end of the liturgical year. Unlike the other liturgical seasons, it does not celebrate a particular mystery of the Lord’s life or of salvation history, but rather the mystery of Christ in its entirety. It is preeminently the season of following and discipleship: in the footsteps of Jesus, we journey toward the fulfillment of history (the XXXIV Sunday).

The reading of the Gospels in Ordinary Time

Within this ordinary setting, while remaining ever vigilant so as not to lose sight of the definitive and true goal, the Church lives through the stages and situations experienced by Jesus, guided by the paths of the Synoptic Gospels: Matthew (the journey of discipleship, Year A), Mark (the first discovery of Jesus, Year B), and Luke (the proclamation of the evangelists, Year C). The Gospel of John, however, with several significant passages, is offered in all three years. This year, following the Gospel of Mark, the content of Ordinary Time becomes rich and varied: there is the journey of the disciples, the sayings of Jesus, and then a gallery of biblical figures, parables, and discourses of Jesus, within which the Church and Christians move and come to know him ever more deeply, until they reach definitive glory in the kingdom of the Father. The weekday Lectionary’s Gospel cycle therefore offers us the opportunity for careful meditation on the Gospel of Mark. Guided by Monsignor Nazzareno Marconi, verse by verse, we are helped to discover the message Jesus conveyed to us through Saint Mark.

During Ordinary Time, we will also encounter the multitude of saints and witnesses who lived their lives radically in the following of Christ and whom the Church presents to us as trailblazers and sure guides to help us reach the goal more quickly. The first and foremost witness is Mary, the Mother of Jesus, followed by the apostles and certain saints who gave their lives to Christ and trusted in his faithful word.

The journey of the Church in Ordinary Time

Ordinary Time is the season devoted to the Church’s “journey” through everyday life. With the Church and at her school, let us allow ourselves to be guided by the Word of God so as to give profound meaning to the ordinary realities of work, family, and social commitment. Sustained by the Holy Spirit, we will be able to conform our lives to that of Christ; with him, day by day, we will entrust ourselves to the Father until we arrive in the kingdom of heaven, where Jesus has gone before us and invites us to the wedding feast. To accomplish all this, however, perseverance, holiness of life, and the ability never to lose sight of the definitive goal are needed. The Spirit sustains, tests, and encourages us: this is what Father Reginaldo Maranesi teaches us in the book “The Holy Spirit and Holiness”.

Some suggestions for living Ordinary Time

• As far as life’s commitments allow, it would be good to participate in the Eucharist even on weekdays. When this is not possible, we can still read the readings of the day and the corresponding commentary, using the daily missal “On Your Word” for assistance.
• Meditating on the Word of God by reading the Bible or the Gospel continuously should be a fixed part of our day. For example, we can underline a key word, a sentence, or a teaching, and then commit ourselves to making it a concrete way of living the Word and experiencing the presence of Christ.
• Make the Liturgy of the Hours a priority: it is the most important prayer after Holy Mass, yet we know little about it and practice it even less, because we think it is reserved only for priests and consecrated people and that it is complicated to recite. “With Living Water” makes everything easier and readily accessible! Try it and see!
• In the daily journey of Ordinary Time, it is also appropriate to make room for praying the Holy Rosary as a prayer for the whole family.

Let us not forget that Pope Francis dedicated a special year to Saint Joseph. Therefore, especially on Wednesdays, the day dedicated to him, let us offer a prayer to this saint, entrust our work to him, and devote ourselves to reading and meditating on a book dedicated to him. We could also read Pope Francis’s apostolic letter “Patris corde”, which beautifully portrays Saint Joseph in just a few pages.

• Finally, it would be advisable to recover the penitential meaning of Friday by recalling the mystery of Christ’s Passion through the practice of the Stations of the Cross.

To live and celebrate the mystery of Christ in ordinary life means accepting the life of disciples in daily faithfulness, listening to and meeting the Teacher in everyday life, and recognizing that God bends over us and saves us in the concrete reality of our personal experience. 

Have a good journey, everyone!