EXTRA Ordinary Time
When we look at the Catholic liturgical calendar, Ordinary Time takes over a majority of the year. Green seems to take over the whole calendar, with only bits of pink, purple, and gold thrown in. Sometimes red, too! Seasons of Advent, Lent, Easter, or Christmas all seem to stand out more than the time in green. We take time to focus on our prayer lives and devotion to hearing God’s word during these times, and if you’re anything like me, you might purchase a seasonal devotional book to help you stay focused during that liturgical season.
But what about Ordinary Time? There are never as many devotional books for Ordinary Time. There aren’t any fish fries, annual cookie sales, or egg hunts during Ordinary Time. That time of the year is, well, ordinary. There is nothing special about it. Nothing that stands out to differentiate it very much from the other seasons. Something “ordinary” has no special or distinct features. It is, by another word, normal.
Yet, we have so much of it! You could say that, in comparison to all of the other liturgical seasons, we have EXTRA Ordinary Time. So, what are we to do with all of this time?
I’ve often heard it said that when we ask God for something, such as more faith, trust, compassion, or hope, He doesn’t simply give us that trait. Instead, God gives us the opportunity to practice that very thing. He doesn’t give us trust, but the opportunity to trust. He doesn’t just give us more compassion, but the opportunity to be more compassionate. He doesn’t give us the ability to be slow to anger and quick to listen, but the opportunity to be slow to anger and quick to listen. The list could go on and on. I’m sure this is a concept many of us have heard of before. I know it’s been preached about, written about, spoken about on podcasts, you name it! God is constantly answering our prayers in this way, sometimes without us even realizing it.
Perhaps that is exactly what all this extra Ordinary Time is for. Without that small space in between the words “extra” and “ordinary,” a whole new word is formed. Instead of simply “ordinary,” something that is “extraordinary” is remarkable, exceptional, amazing and astonishing. To describe something as “extraordinary” is to say that it is marvelous, wonderful, unforgettable. It is miraculous.
Christ is the extraordinary. The wonderful joining of heaven and earth, the miraculous uniting of humanity and divinity. Only he can take our extra Ordinary Time, and transform it into extraordinary time. It is up to us to use that space in between. The 33 to 34 weeks of Ordinary Time are our opportunity to prayerfully listen to God’s voice in our life. It is time to seek out the opportunities that God gives us to step out in faith, to be compassionate, slow to anger, quick to listen, and so much more.
As we have journeyed through the first couple weeks of Ordinary Time, this very idea entered into my heart and mind. At first, I thought it was too simple, too easy, or that too many people might already know what I’m talking about. We all pray and are earnest in listening to God’s voice in our lives. There is nothing novel about it. Why share it?
That is where I found beauty; it is something common. It is regular, routine, something standard or perhaps habitual. It is ordinary.