Ordinary Time: Summer
A Sense of the Season

What do the words Ordinary Time mean? Dorothy Day said, “The words ‘Ordinary Time’ in our prayer books put me in a state of confusion and irritation. To me, no time is ordinary.” She was right. The Ordinary in “Ordinary Time” refers to ordinal—counted—time, not to a lack of something to celebrate. The Roman document, General Norms for the Liturgical Year and Calendar, says: “Apart from those seasons having their own distinctive character [Advent, Christmastime, Lent, Triduum and Eastertime], 33 or 34 weeks remain in the yearly cycle that do not celebrate a specific aspect of the mystery of Christ. Rather, especially on the Sundays, they are devoted to the mystery of Christ in all its aspects.”

How do we celebrate “the mystery of Christ in all its aspects”? We gather every Sunday. Sunday is our original feast day. Christians have gathered every Sunday—the day of Christ’s resurrection, the first day of the week—ever since there were Christians.

When we gather on Sundays in Ordinary Time, as always, we hear the scriptures proclaimed. The church reads straight through “the gospel of the year,” either Matthew, Mark or Luke, each week often picking up where we left off last week. (We read John during Lent and Easter, and on feasts.) The first readings, from the first testament of the Bible, have been chosen for their relationship to the gospel passages. Many voices are heard throughout summer Ordinary Time. We also read through some of the letters of the second testament of the Bible. The mystery of Christ “in all its aspects” unfolds.

What is the heart of our Sunday celebration? We do our Eucharist; that is, we do our thanksgiving. We praise and thank God for all creation; we pray for the whole world, as we remember Christ’s life, death and resurrection. We share the bread and wine, the body and blood. We are sent forth to be the body and blood of Christ in our homes, our workplaces, our neighborhoods, our towns, our cities, our country, our world.

“What happens in our churches every Sunday is the fruit of our week. What happens as the fruit of the week past is the beginning of the week to come. Sunday is simultaneously a point of arrival and departure for Christians on their way to the fullness of the kingdom. This is not ordinary at all. This is the fabric of Christian living.”

(Saint Andrew Bible Missal [Brooklyn: William J. Hirten Co., 1982.])
Copyright © 1997, Archdiocese of Chicago. Liturgy Training Publications, 1800 North Hermitage Avenue, Chicago IL 60622-1101; 1-800-933-1800. Text by G. Thomas Ryan. Art by Luba Lukova.

Tiempo ordinario: Verano
Un sentido de la temporad

¿Qué significan las palabras Tiempo Ordinario? Dorothy Day dijo, “Las palabras ‘tiempo ordinario’ en nuestros libros de oración me ponen en un estado de confusión e irritación. Para mí, no hay tiempo ordinario.” Ella estaba en lo cierto. El ordinario en “tiempo ordinario” se refiere al tiempo ordinal –contado–, no a la falta de algo para celebrar. El documento Romano, Normas Generales para el Año Litúrgico y el Calendario, dice: “Aparte de las estaciones que tienen su propio carácter distintivo [Adviento, Navidad, Cuaresma, Triduo y la Pascua], 33 o 34 semanas permanecen en el ciclo anual que no celebran un aspecto específico del misterio de Cristo. Más bien, especialmente en los domingos, son dedicados al misterio de Cristo en todos los aspectos.

“¿Cómo celebramos “el misterio de Cristo en todos los aspectos”? Nos reunimos todos los domingos. El domingo es nuestro día de fiesta original. Los cristianos se han reunido todos los domingos–día de la resurrección de Cristo, el primer día de la semana–desde que había cristianos.

Cuando nos reunimos los domingos del tiempo ordinario, como siempre, escuchamos las Escrituras proclamadas. La iglesia lee directamente “el evangelio del año,” ya sea Mateo, Marcos o Lucas, cada semana, a menudo leyendo donde lo dejamos la semana pasada. (Leemos Juan durante la Cuaresma y Semana Santa, y en las fiestas.) Las primeras lecturas, del antiguo testamento de la Biblia, se han elegido por su relación con los pasajes del Evangelio. Muchas voces se escuchan durante todo el verano del Tiempo Ordinario. También leemos a unas cartas del nuevo testamento de la Biblia. El misterio de Cristo “en todos sus aspectos” se desarrolla.
¿Cuál es el corazón de nuestra celebración dominical? Hacemos nuestra eucaristía, es decir, que hacemos nuestra acción de gracias. Alabamos y agradecemos a Dios por toda la creación; oramos por todo el mundo, al recordar la vida, muerte, y resurrección de Cristo. Compartimos el pan y el vino, el cuerpo y la sangre. Somos enviados para ser el cuerpo y la sangre de Cristo en nuestros hogares, nuestros lugares de trabajo, nuestros barrios, nuestras pueblos, nuestras ciudades, nuestro país, nuestro mundo.

“Lo que pasa en nuestras iglesias todos los domingos es el fruto de nuestra semana. Lo qué pasa con el fruto de la última semana es el comienzo de la semana por venir. El domingo es al mismo tiempo un punto de llegada y salida para los cristianos en su camino hacia la plenitud del reino. Esto no es ordinario para nada. Esta es la tela de la vida cristiana”.

(Saint Andrew Bible Missal [Brooklyn: William J. Hirten Co., 1982.])
Copyright © 1997, Archdiocese of Chicago. Liturgy Training Publications, 1800 North Hermitage Avenue, Chicago IL 60622-1101; 1-800-933-1800. Text by G. Thomas Ryan. Art by Luba Lukova.

Spiritual Fill Up…

Being quiet for a period of time each day. It takes discipline and self-love. It is much harder than getting ready for work, pulling together breakfast, swimming 120 laps, or even writing a chapter of a book.

For me, standing still is so much harder than running.

Spiritual author Henri Nouwen writes: As long as you run from where you are and distract yourself, you cannot fully let yourself be healed. A seed only flourishes by staying in the ground in which it is sown. When you keep digging the seed up to check whether it is growing, it will never bear fruit. Think about yourself as a little seed planted in rich soil. All you have to do is stay there and trust that the soil contains everything you need to grow. This growth takes place even when you do not feel it.