Our liturgical seasons, like all our life, has celebration of feasts and times of quiet growth and maturing. Because the term ‘ordinary’ in English most often means something that is not special or distinctive, many people think that ‘Ordinary Time’ refers to parts of the calendar of the Catholic Church that are unimportant. Yet Ordinary Time is far from unimportant or uninteresting.
Why is Ordinary Time called Ordinary?
Ordinary Time is called ‘ordinary’ not because it is common, but simply because the weeks in Ordinary Time are numbered. The Latin word ordalis, 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 feasting (as in the Christmas and Easter seasons) or in more severe penance (as in Advent and Lent) but in watchfulness and expectation; expectation of Christ’s Second Coming.
On the thirty-three Sundays of Ordinary Time – some years there are thirty-four - the vestments are usually green, the colour of hope and growth. This is the longest season of the Liturgical Year. So, for Catholics, Ordinary Time is the part of the year in which Christ, the Lamb od God, walks among us and transforms our lives. In this season, the Church celebrates the public ministry of Jesus. This is the time of conversion. This is living the life of Christ.
There is nothing “ordinary” about that!
Why is Ordinary Time called Ordinary?
Ordinary Time is called ‘ordinary’ not because it is common, but simply because the weeks in Ordinary Time are numbered. The Latin word ordalis, 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 feasting (as in the Christmas and Easter seasons) or in more severe penance (as in Advent and Lent) but in watchfulness and expectation; expectation of Christ’s Second Coming.
On the thirty-three Sundays of Ordinary Time – some years there are thirty-four - the vestments are usually green, the colour of hope and growth. This is the longest season of the Liturgical Year. So, for Catholics, Ordinary Time is the part of the year in which Christ, the Lamb od God, walks among us and transforms our lives. In this season, the Church celebrates the public ministry of Jesus. This is the time of conversion. This is living the life of Christ.
There is nothing “ordinary” about that!
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