(Extra)Ordinary Time
on tempus per annum
Dear Friends,
On Monday we began what the English-speaking Church calls Ordinary Time.
The Latin tempus per annum is, perhaps, better translated as Time through the Year, but that's pretty uninspiring as well.
I don’t want to get caught up in those technical details. The theme, however, stirs up a couple of thoughts:
For one, we used to build out our calendar around the Church's major feasts. By calling it Time after Pentecost or the time leading up to Lent (Septuagesima) we thought more frequently about the centrality of Jesus' resurrection in the life of the Church.
The other is that, besides being a bad translation, there really should be no such thing as Ordinary Time for us as Christians. What I mean by that is that God breaks in to every moment of human history, most significantly in the prayer of his sons and daughters (that’s us).
Lent begins February 26th. Don’t let these days be ordinary!
Christ's Peace,
Father Daniel
δοῦλος Χριστοῦ Ἰησοῦ
Preparing for Mass?
Check out this weekend's readings:
Second Sunday in Ordinary Time
Saint John the Baptist (from the Isenheim Altarpiece)
Matthias Grünewald, c.1512 - c.1516