Ordinary Time

The Church Calendar depicts the year in a cycle representing the life of Jesus on earth. It starts with Advent, flows into the Christmas Season, moves quickly through a short Ordinary Time and then into Lent. Lent culminates with Easter Time which ends on Trinity Sunday. Then we pick back up with an extended Ordinary Time.   Ordinary time is the longest liturgical season in the Catholic Church, encompassing either 33 or 34 weeks each year. Because other liturgical seasons begin or end with movable feasts, the length of Ordinary time can vary slightly; however, 33 weeks is the more common length. The weeks are numbered, e.g., the first Sunday of Ordinary Time, the second Sunday of Ordinary Time, etc., and mark our steady but sure progress toward the Kingdom of Heaven.

The term ordinary might be taken in the context of normal, mundane, or general with nothing much going on. However, it is anything but ordinary. This time in the Church Calendar represents Jesus’ everyday life during his three year ministry of spreading the Good News, preaching, healing, telling us who the Father is. (maybe why the Mass readings are divided into three year cycle A, B, C?)  This is not ordinary, it is extra-ordinary!

This is the living out of the promises coming from the covenants of the Old Testament. The Christ has come and is living among His people. He has arrived to do the work of salvation. First, however, He wants to tell us what is about to happen and set the stage for God's ultimate entrance into human history.

Each day Jesus set out by foot crisscrossing the very landscape where much of the Old Testament took place. Unknown to even the apostles, He was laying the foundation of His Church before their eyes. He taught them how to pray, He explained the meaning of the scriptures, He pointed out the hypocrisy of the leaders of the people and how the law had become more important to some than God. He was perfecting the Old Law and putting it in proper perspective. He taught Charity to others and love of enemies. Later He gave new meaning to their observance of the Passover, and brought it all together with His Resurrection and sending of the Holy Spirit. He gave the disciples the example to follow, then commanded them to go and teach as He did. 

If we were to use the first three mysteries of the rosary as reflections on the life of Jesus on earth, we would only see the events of Advent/Christmas, Lent/Passion, and Resurrection/ Ascending into Heaven. No wonder John Paul II saw the necessity of instituting the Luminous Mysteries so as to remind us of Jesus' extraordinary time on earth.  A time of illuminating our knowledge of God through Jesus. Not ordinary at all.  POC. Bob, OFS

Adapted from post in Secular Franciscan

SEASON OF ORDINARY TIME:  Technically is one liturgical season, though it is divided into two periods. The first period begins on Monday (or Tuesday if the feast of the Baptism of the Lord is celebrated on that Monday) after the Sunday following January 6 and continues until the day before Ash Wednesday, inclusive. The second period starts on the Monday after Pentecost and ends on the Saturday before the first Sunday of Advent. The last Sunday of Ordinary Time is celebrated as the Solemnity of Christ the King.

LITURGICAL COLOR:  Green -- a sign of hope. (However, other appropriate colors are worn on particular feast days)

READINGS:  The Liturgical Calendar follows a three-year cycle, each year being represented by the letters, A, B and C. During the year A cycle, the Gospel of Matthew is the primary Gospel that is used for the readings. In year B, Mark is the primary Gospel. In year C Luke is the primary Gospel. The Gospel of John is proclaimed on particular Sundays in each of the years.

On weekdays in Ordinary Time, there is a two-year cycle numbered I and II. Year I is read in odd number years such as 2019, 2021, 2023. Year II is read in even years such as 2020, 2022, 2024. It should be noted that if a person attends the Holy Mass everyday for three years, having been present for all the readings of the thr cycles, most of the Holy Bible will have been read to him during that time frame.

GROW IN FAITH:  Ordinary Time is a time for deepening our prayer life and understanding of the Scriptures so that we may unite more deeply with Our Lord through the Sacraments and strive for holiness.