On the First Sunday of Advent each year we begin a new cycle in the life of the Church. The year begins with that beautiful Season of waiting and is followed by the joy of the Nativity and the wonder of the Epiphany.
We don’t dwell on the wonder and beauty of the Infant King, though – we move into a new phase, which we refer to as Ordinary Time. It’s the time we consider who this Infant King grew up to be, and what being a follower of his means for us. It’s not ordinary time in the sense of being run of the mill and humdrum – far from it. The word simply comes from the the Latin word ‘ordinal‘ meaning ‘taken in order’, or ‘numbered’. It refers to the bulk of the year when we come to Church to receive the Eucharist, hear the Scriptures and to be encouraged in how best to live our faith and witness to Christ.
We’ll interrupt Ordinary Time for Lent and Easter, then pick it up again to see us through once more to a new year and a new Season of Advent.
Ordinary time, then, is the norm for us, it takes up most of our year and is our opportunity to learn, to act, and to live our faith in our daily lives. We’re invited to consider carefully, therefore, how best to use this extraordinary opportunity that the Church presents to us.
There’s a beautiful Christmas card, made available by Pax Christi, which reads “When the song of the angels is stilled, when the star in the sky is gone, when the kings and princes are home, when the shepherds are back with their flocks, the work of Christmas begins: to find the lost; to heal the broken; to feed the hungry; release the prisoner; to rebuild the nations; to bring peace among people; to make music in the heart.“
How true…