Haven’t you always wondered why the seasons between certain feast times in the Church are called “Ordinary Time?” The term actually comes from the Latin word ordinas meaning numbered, counting the number of days between Christmas and Lent, and then between Eastertide, which includes Pentecost, and Advent.
They are days when the Lectionary readings focus on the life of Jesus as he wandered about, teaching, healing people – and causing trouble, for Jesus was a troublemaker, to be sure. He didn’t mince word or make nice when he railed against the corruption of the religious and political leadership of his day. He told it as it was.
It was an extraordinary time, the term I like to use because it was more than counting the days. It was a time when people looked for change in society, and Jesus gave them the hope that there might be a new kind of social order, one where there would be no poor, but a time when there would be no poor. Wouldn’t that be an extraordinary time?
Prayer for the Day
We rise in the morning from the night that has passed,
Embracing a new day that opens up a host of possibilities;
Tenderize our hearts, O God, for there are so many needs around us,
And unseal our minds from the limits we draw for ourselves.
Expand our understanding enabling us imagination and hope,
So we are not bound by old ideas of living your realm of justice.
In the name of the One who brings hope in the possible,
Even Christ Jesus our Lord, Amen.
Thoughts for the Day
Working for a just distribution of the fruits of the earth and human labor is not mere philanthropy. It is a moral obligation. For Christians, the responsibility is even greater: it is a commandment.
- Pope Francis
Our minds must be as ready to move as capital is, to trace its paths and to imagine alternative destinations.”
- Chandra Talpade Mohanty, from Feminism without Borders
What good is it, my brothers and sisters, if someone claims to have faith but has no deeds? Can such faith save them? Suppose a brother or a sister is without clothes and daily food. If one of you says to them, ‘Go in peace; keep warm and well fed,’ but does nothing about their physical needs, what good is it? In the same way, faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by action, is dead.
James 2: 14-17