The Ordinary

Welcome to Ordinary Time, which we resume this Sunday.

The church year revolves around two cycles:

1. The Christmas cycle (Advent, Christmas, Epiphany), and;

2. The Easter cycle (Lent, Holy Week, Easter, Pentecost)

But what about the rest of the year?

There are two periods of the liturgical year called Ordinary Time that stitch together the Christmas and Easter cycles. One is the season of Epiphany, and the other, which is what we most often call Ordinary Time, is alternately called The Season after Pentecost. It covers around half the year, stretching from late spring till late autumn. When referring to Ordinary Time, the word “ordinary” means “numbered” because the Sundays of this season are simply numbered “after Pentecost” (Trinity is the First Sunday after Pentecost, this Sunday is the Second).

The Collect for this Sunday entreats that “we may so pass through things temporal (the ordinary) that we lose not the things eternal.” The readings, then, suggest a way to help ensure this, though it may not be what immediately comes to mind: Sabbath.

I’m personally reluctant to preach on the importance of Sabbath-keeping because, candidly, I’m not what you’d call an exemplar. In fact, not even close. But I will tell you it’s a message I need to hear again and apply my life to.