Dear brothers and sisters in Christ,
The Christmas season has come to a close and a new season of Ordinary Time has begun. It is easy to misunderstand the meaning of this new season as unspecial, routine, or uneventful, but in the life of the Church, Ordinary Time is anything but “ordinary”.
The word ordinary comes from the Latin ordo, meaning order or sequence. Ordinary Time is not defined by a particular mystery, like Christmas or Easter, but by the ordered and steady unfolding of Christ’s life and ministry. It is the season in which the Church walks with Jesus as He teaches, heals, calls disciples, and reveals the Kingdom of God in the midst of daily life.
This is precisely what makes Ordinary Time so significant. Most of our lives are not lived in moments of dramatic conversion or intense penitence, but in the rhythms of ordinary days, work and rest, family life, faithfulness and struggle. Ordinary Time teaches us that holiness is not reserved for extraordinary moments, but that It is formed slowly, through daily fidelity to Christ.
Liturgically, Ordinary Time is marked by the color green, a sign of growth and hope. It reminds us that spiritual growth often happens quietly and invisibly, much like a seed taking root beneath the soil. The Word of God proclaimed during these weeks nourishes that growth, forming us little by little into disciples.
In Ordinary Time, the Church invites us to pay close attention. The miracles, parables, and teachings of Jesus proclaimed at Mass are not random episodes; they are revelations of how the Kingdom of God breaks into the ordinary circumstances of human life. Christ meets us not only in the great feasts, but in the daily walk of faith.
Ordinary Time reminds us that the Christian life is not a series of spiritual highs, but a steady journey of conversion. It is here, amid the ordinary, that God does His most enduring work.
Praised be Jesus Christ, now and forever!
All you holy saints of God, pray for us!
Peace in Christ,
Fr. Michael Silloway
Pastor