There’s Nothing Ordinary about Ordinary Time

The Monday after the Feast of the Baptism of the Lord beings the first week of “Ordinary Time” on the church’s calendar.  Ordinary Time is the longest of the church’s 6 liturgical seasons (the other seasons are: Advent, Christmas, Lent, Easter Triduum, and Easter) spanning nearly 34 weeks of every year, and is interspersed between those other seasons, culminating with the Solemnity of Jesus Christ the King of the Universe, which occurs on the Sunday preceding the first Sunday of Advent.  The name “Ordinary Time” is derived from the ordinal numbers used to count its weeks (1st, 2nd, 3rd) and has nothing to do with any “ho-hum” quality to the season.  The Latin term used to describe the season is “tempus per annum”, or time throughout the year.  The  liturgical color (or the color worn by the priest when he celebrates Mass, and used to adorn the altar and sanctuary) is green – which is the symbol of life and hope.  The Mass readings during Ordinary time are dedicated to the Life and Teachings of Jesus.So what’s all this “ordinary” business got to do with the tag line of this blog – “striving for the heights of holiness in the trenches of everyday life?” I mean, isn’t the journey to holiness supposed to be exciting?  Filled with adventures? Look at the saints, look at the martyrs!  Look at St. Peter walking on water – action and adventure abound – right?  Wrong.For most of us, our journey to holiness happens right smack in the middle of the ordinary routine of every day life.  Few of us are called to the sacrifice of the martyrs, or the heroic adventures of St. Paul, or the brilliant writing and teaching of Saint John Paul II or even to the radical service of Mother Theresa. All of us, however,