ordinary time

Tonight at mass I was struck by the fact that today is the first day in ordinary time (meaning "numbered or counted") of this liturgical year.

This means that last night my Christmas season drew to an end as I coincidentally returned home to Pittsburgh after three very full and beautiful weeks spent with family and friends. It has been bittersweet returning to my commitments here, but I love how today begins a new part of the liturgical year marked by hope and growth.

As I read tonight~

In vestments usually green, the color of hope and growth, the Church counts the thirty-three or thirty-four Sundays of Ordinary Time, inviting her children to meditate upon the whole mystery of Christ – his life, miracles and teachings – in the light of his Resurrection.

If the faithful are to mature in the spiritual life and increase in faith, they must descend the great mountain peaks of Easter and Christmas in order to "pasture" in the vast verdant meadows of tempus per annum, or Ordinary Time.

Sunday by Sunday, the Pilgrim Church marks her journey through the tempus per annum as she processes through time toward eternity.

When I heard the Gospel at Mass tonight I also couldn't help but think of how Peter, Andrew, James and John were in the middle of their ordinary lives -- fishing by the Sea of Galilee-- when Jesus approached them with an invitation... "Come after Me." They had no idea of all that was to come, and yet it was all there in the promise of that moment as they were surprised by His invitation that would change their lives forever...


After John had been arrested,
Jesus came to Galilee proclaiming the Gospel of God:
“This is the time of fulfillment.
The Kingdom of God is at hand.
Repent, and believe in the Gospel.”

As he passed by the Sea of Galilee,
he saw Simon and his brother Andrew casting their nets into the sea;
they were fishermen.
Jesus said to them,
“Come after me, and I will make you fishers of men.”
Then they left their nets and followed him.
He walked along a little farther
and saw James, the son of Zebedee, and his brother John.
They too were in a boat mending their nets.
Then he called them.
So they left their father Zebedee in the boat
along with the hired men and followed him.


May we all be so open to His invitation in the midst of our ordinary lives!