By Sister Marcianne Bzdon, SSND
Ordinary Time, if it is anything, is certainly extraordinary.
When written with a capital O and T, it refers to that time in the Liturgical Calendar that comes after Pentecost and lasts until the feast of Christ the King. It also runs from Christmas Time until the season of Lent begins.
(When teaching about this to youngsters, it is shown in green on Liturgical Calendars. One encourages children to color in this section carefully.)
When using small letters, ordinary time refers to those day-to-day events that occur in everyday life—nothing special, just the daily routine of things one gets used to doing—jobs, grocery shopping, house cleaning, reading, cooking.
Neither of these times are very ordinary!
Ordinary Time, with the capital letters, is so filled with extraordinary events and feasts, such as that of the Trinity, Corpus Christi, feasts of Mary, and so many who showed heroic virtue and move us to try to emulate their lives in our very own.
Consider Peter, Paul, Kateri, Ignatius Loyola, Maximillian, Teresa Benedicta, John Bosco, Thomas Aquinas, and so many others whom we celebrate in this season!
They help us remember to live our own daily lives in service to others.
Ordinary time in small letters enables us to see the beauty that surrounds us every day—trees flowering, plants and flowers growing, colorful trees with crunchy leaves to walk through, snowflakes falling and creating beautiful scenes.
How blessed one is to live through the days of Ordinary Time and ordinary time!
It is good to remember to give thanks to God for all of the ORDINARY TIME in our lives!
