Not So Ordinary Time

This weekend we begin the liturgical season which bears the rather awkward title Ordinary Time. This is the so called Green Season. Comprised of thirty-four weeks, it fills the short space between the Feast of the Baptism and Lent, and the larger block of time stretching from Pentecost to the beginning of Advent.

In day-to-day conversation, most of us use the word ordinary in a pejorative sense. Something ordinary is plain, unassuming, common, average, run of the mill. But in fact, the name used by the Church comes from the root word ordinal. It simply means counted time. In Latin tempus per annum.

All that being said, there's nothing ordinary about Ordinary Time. True, it doesn't have all the bells and whistles of the High Holy Days, like Christmas and Easter. Or the quiet solemnity of Advent and Lent. But none the less, it's a season of grace and favour. A gift from the Lord.

Scripture tells us that from time to time Jesus would invite his disciples to come away with him to a deserted place, a place where they could rest and be alone (Mark 6:31ff). This time away wasn't a luxury. It was an absolute necessity. He wanted to bond with them. He wanted to reveal to them his mind and heart. I no longer call you servants, he tells them, because a servant does not know his master's business. Instead, I have called you friends, for everything that I learned from my Father I have made known to you.

Ordinary Time is our extended time away with the Lord. Immersed in the Word of God, we spend quality time in the presence of Jesus. We ponder his words. We learn from his example. But most important, we meet him heart to heart and person to person. During Ordinary Time we come to know and love Jesus in a deeply personal way. We enter into a friendship with the Lord that will last us into eternity.

That bond of divine friendship is celebrated and confirmed in the Eucharist. Our communion with Jesus, in the Sacrament of his Body and Blood, seals our living relationship with him. It's a taste of what that friendship will be when we finally enter the halls of Heaven.

So, Ordinary Time begins this weekend. Do we write it off as plain, unassuming, common, average, run of the mill? Certainly not! Ordinary Time is time well spent. It's time spent in company with the Lord.