Ecclesiastes 3:1There is a time for everything, and a season
for every activity under the heavens…
At least one of my friends is already posting cutesy
Christmas pictures on Facebook. It is
way too early to be doing that! First it
makes me panic -- like maybe I’m behind in all my pastoral and private planning
for the season. Second it makes me feel
like we’re not giving Jesus’ life its full due.
It’s so much fun to celebrate the birth of the baby. We’ve commercialized it to death. It’s also fun to celebrate the resurrection –
after all we get to hide eggs for the children and get new clothes and people
we’ve not seen in a year show up at church.
But what about the in-between time? Our church calendar calls it “ordinary
time.” Not because it is “plain and not
outstanding” but because we mark it with numbers. Here’s what the “daily-word-of-life.com site
tells us: “Ordinary Time, meaning ordered or numbered time, is celebrated in
two segments. 1) From the Monday following the Baptism of Our Lord to Ash
Wednesday. 2) From Pentecost Monday to the First Sunday of Advent. This makes
it the longest season of the Liturgical Year. The Church counts thirty-three or
thirty-four Sundays of Ordinary Time (60% of the Church's calendar), inviting
us to meditate upon the whole mystery of Christ – his life, miracles and
teachings – in the light of his Resurrection. The vestments for Ordinary Time
are usually green, the color of hope and growth. The season of Ordinary Time
helps us to meditate on the mighty works of God through Jesus Christ. It is a
time to grow in our faith in response to God's invitation to follow Jesus to
the cross. We have a challenge to make our ordinary days extraordinary!”
Therefore dear friends, let us not rush Christmas but
instead spend the appropriate time allotted to grow in Christ and in the
knowledge of his teaching.
Holy God, let us read the stories of Jesus over and over as
you give us new insight into them and how we should live in accordance with
what we learn. Thank you for giving us
your Son, Jesus. Thank you for his birth and for his saving work on the cross,
for his resurrection to show we will also conquer death and most of all thank
you for his life and teachings. It’s in
his name we pray. Amen.
Happy
Ordinary Time!Paige
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