Ordinary Time

There was something very wonderful in the Divine Service today: it was "back to usual." Ron, usher at our first service, asked (as he usually does): "Anything different today?" It was with a smile on my face I said: "Nope. Everything as usual."

Gone were all the Christmas decorations, the trees were down, no carols sung. Instead it was just, "back to normal" - the Church was returned to its normal state with the "ordinary" green gracing the altar, pulpit and lectern. The Christmas trees had been so large, that we were forced to use continuous distribution of the Sacrament through most of Advent/Christmas. Today marked the return of the congregation kneeling at the rail to receive our Lord's most precious Body and Blood. Another mark of "back to the usual." Of course, this year "back to usual" is precious short. Next Sunday will also be an ordinary Sunday after Epiphany, but then Transfiguration and the preparations for Lent begin. Lent!!! Already???? Yup.

[But that's nothing. Just wait till NEXT year (should our Lord not come before!): Easter falls on March 23. In that case, there will be NO ordinary time. We'll go from the Baptism of our Lord to the Feast of His Transfiguration and then at the tail end of January pre-Lent will begin. But let's not worry about that till next year...]

For now we have a couple of Green Sundays, and what a joy this ordinary time is! Cana's Wedding feast this week; next week, Naaman's washing in the Jordan and a couple healing miracles in the Gospel (Matthew 8:1-13). "Lord, I am not worthy..." The beauty of this pattern of the ordinary followed by the extraordinary gives the Church Year its inner energy: preparation, celebration, fulfillment (ordinary time) leading to preparation, celebration, fulfillment. That is how the Church leads us from this age to the Kingdom.