SCRIPTURE/PRAYER

Liturgical Year
Ordinary Time: Summer

A Sense of the Season

What do the words Ordinary Time mean? The Ordinary in "Ordinary Time" refers to ordinal-counted-time, not to a lack of something to celebrate: "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." (General Norms for the Liturgical Year and Calendar, 43)

How do we celebrate "the mystery of Christ in all its aspects", the Paschal Mystery? 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-since the earliest days of the Church.

When we gather on Sundays in Ordinary Time, as always, we hear the scriptures proclaimed. The church reads straight through the primary gospel of the year: this year, cycle A, we hear the Gospel of Matthew, each week often picking up where we left off the previous week. (We read John every year during Easter, and on feasts.) The first readings, from the first testament of the Bible, have been chosen for their relationship to the gospel passages. The second reading is drawn from the letters of the second testament of the Bible. We read these letters in a semi-continuous style: the second reading is independent thematically from the other passages proclaimed during the Liturgy of the Word. The mystery of Christ "in all its aspects" unfolds.

This summer, we make two departures from the Ordinary Time schedule. On June 29, the Church celebrates the Solemnity of Saints Peter and Paul. On July 13 our parish celebrates the Solemnity of Our Lady of Peace, our parish feast day. In each case, the solemnity or feast replaces the "counted Sunday", this summer, Ordinary Time Sundays 13 and15.

What is the heart of our Sunday celebration? We celebrate Eucharist. We hear the story of our salvation, told through the sacred scriptures. 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.])