Christmas is over… for a while, we won’t have the Christmas tree at home, or eat Christmas cookies, or exchange presents. No more Christmas carols or expecting for the coming of Santa. However, although Christmas is over, the joy of having the Lord with us should remain in our hearts. This is precisely the meaning of Ordinary Time. Some people believe that Ordinary Time means “boring time;” however, its meaning is very different. “Ordinary Time is called “ordinary” not because it is common but simply because the weeks of Ordinary Time are numbered. The Latin word ordinalis, which refers to numbers in a series, stems from the Latin word ordo, from which we get the English word order. Thus, the numbered weeks of Ordinary Time, in fact, represent the ordered life of the Church–the period in which we live our lives neither in feasting (as in the Christmas and Easter seasons) or in more severe penance (as in Advent and Lent), but in watchfulness and expectation of the Second Coming of Christ” (learnreligions.com). Moreover, “Ordinary Time is a time for growth and maturation, a time in which the mystery of Christ is called to penetrate ever more deeply into history until all things are finally caught up in Christ” (usccb.org).
Christ is among us. He is “The Emmanuel” who is always showing us the merciful Father. We need to be closer to Him, allowing us during the different seasons of the liturgical year to experience the love of God. If we have a special connection with God through the sacraments, different prayers, and our service to our brothers and sisters, we are really letting Jesus touch our hearts and so we have an ordinary life; that means, to have a life according to the natural order created by God.
My brothers and sisters, let us celebrate always that the Lord Jesus is with us, regardless of the liturgical season. God is with us 365 days a year, so let us rejoice because the Emmanuel is here always to lead each one of us to the house of Our Heavenly Father.
Fr. George
