Ordinary Time
Ordinary Time is the period in which life in the Spirit is meant to deepen and become concrete, leading us to greater maturity in faith. Ordinary Time is defined as such not because it is a time of little importance, but as the time when the Lord’s daily mission is remembered, excluding the great mysteries such as the Incarnation of the Son of God, preceded by Advent, and the Paschal Mystery, preceded by the penitential season of Lent.
Living Ordinary Time in the Jubilee Year
In this Jubilee Year, as we celebrate the 2,025th anniversary of Christ’s birth, it is good to reaffirm that we Christians are “pilgrims of hope,” capable of looking to the future with confidence and always considering ourselves to be on a journey “until we all attain to the unity of faith and knowledge of the Son of God, to mature manhood, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ” (Eph 4:13). Embracing the mystery of Christ in our ordinary lives means taking seriously what it means to be disciples who listen to and follow the Master in their daily lives, making each moment an opportunity for salvation. It means taking on the task of proclaiming the Good News, becoming pilgrims of hope and peace along the roads of the world, through the power of the Holy Spirit, who makes us courageous witnesses of the Gospel and builders of a new humanity. The Jubilee thus becomes a decisive first stage that directs us “toward another fundamental anniversary for all Christians: in 2033, in fact, the two thousandth anniversary of the Redemption accomplished through the passion, death, and resurrection of the Lord Jesus will be celebrated. We thus stand before a journey marked by great milestones, in which God’s grace goes before and accompanies the people who walk zealously in faith, actively in charity, and steadfastly in hope (cf. 1 Thess 1:3)” (SNC 6).
Some aids for living Ordinary Time
On the pilgrimage of ordinary life, we journey toward our heavenly homeland, and to help us proceed more swiftly, we are offered some aids:
• The Word of God is a light for our journey through the overflowing beauty of the Gospel, and we are invited to examine our lives in its light.
• The “breaking of the bread” is the Lord’s enduring gift and offering to his Church. The Eucharist is the bread of angels, the nourishment of the children of God.
• Sunday, the focal point of Ordinary Time, is the day of our weekly encounter with the risen Lord. It strongly reminds us of the need for a balanced relationship between work and rest; it is the day on which, amid all our “doing,” we safeguard a space of gratuitousness to celebrate the love of God who saves us. Preface X for the Sundays of Ordinary Time sings: “Today your family, gathered to listen to your Word and to share in the communion of the one broken bread, commemorates the risen Lord in expectation of the never-ending Sunday, when all humanity will enter into your rest.”
• The sacrament of Reconciliation is a loving, grace-filled comfort that enables us to begin anew each day without the burden of sin.
• Daily and persevering prayer offers the opportunity to adhere to Christ through a constant and progressive journey toward being clothed in him.
In this way, Ordinary Time becomes a natural continuation of the Jubilee, a time of growth and maturation in which the mystery of God, whom we encounter in the face and word of Jesus, urges us to show through our actions that we have discovered the newness introduced into history by Jesus’ Passover.
Do you have any ideas for fully living out the Jubilee during this Ordinary Time? Share them in the comments!
