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Friends in Christ, these weeks we have returned to what is called ‘Ordinary Time.’ This is from Latin which really means ‘Counted time.’ Vestments and the veils, are green.
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Green is for growth. Plants grow, trees grow – so do souls. This is time for us, having finished the seasons of Lent and Easter, having meditated on the marvels God has done for us – this is now a time to return to the day-by-day effort to become better Christians.
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St. Paul often compares the Christian life to that of an athlete, competing in the Olympics. My nephews and niece are also really into sports. They have had their intense trainings for games and meets this past year, and the glory of the tournaments and even trophies; but now summer comes, and for them it is a period of toning up and polishing their skills: Jogging and swimming to develop themselves, so that next year they might compete at a higher level. So too Ordinary Time in the spiritual life.
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Christmas was the birth of Christ, Lent was Christ’s life of suffering, Easter was Christ’s time on earth in his resurrected body, until his Ascension. But then comes the period of his Mystical Body, the Church; now the Spirit of Christ lives in us, and in this time after Pentecost, the Holy Spirit wants to work in us, to coach us; not building a pre-fab mansion in us in a week, but rather a gradual growth, like a plant, which becomes a tree.
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Ordinary Time is the growth of the Church on earth and growth of holiness in us. The only way this can happen is by our daily prayers. We rise and offer our day to God. Lord: ‘I offer everything today to you, for your glory.’ We pray each time we eat, and we think about the Lord during the day. The Angelus at noon, try to say the Rosary. At night, we kneel and thank God, confess our faults; ‘Help me to give you more glory tomorrow Lord.’
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Today, Christ tells the young man to follow him, totally. That man could not do it. But the Lord’s invitation remains, for each of us. Ordinary time is a time to do just that: follow Christ, especially in the day to day details of ordinary life. But there is nothing ‘ordinary’ about Ordinary time.
