Answer: Look up the word “ordinary” and some of the synonyms you will find are everyday, average, routine, common, and mundane – none of which describe what the Church means by “Ordinary Time.” Ordinary Time are “…the days of the Church year that are not Advent, Christmas, Lent or Easter. The longest period of the year, Ordinary Time is so called not because is it set apart from the ‘extraordinary’ times, but because it is time ordered for, or ordained to, the everyday living of a Christian life.”¹
“Christmas Time and Easter Time highlight the central mysteries of the Paschal Mystery, namely, the incarnation, death on the cross, resurrection, and ascension of Jesus Christ, and the descent of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost. The Sundays and weeks of Ordinary Time, on the other hand, take us through the life of Christ. This is the time of conversion. This is living the life of Christ.”²
There are two period of Ordinary Time. “The first is the five to eight weeks between Epiphany and the beginning of Lent (Ash Wednesday). The second is the twenty-three to twenty-seven weeks following the feast of Pentecost and concluding with the Solemnity of Christ the King, the final Sunday of the liturgical year.
¹
The Encyclopedia of Catholicism
- The United States Conference of Catholic Bishops
³The Encyclopedia of Catholicism
June 29, 2017Answer: Look up the word “ordinary” and some of the synonyms you will find are everyday, average, routine, common, and mundane – none of which describe what the Church means by “Ordinary Time.” Ordinary Time are “…the days of the Church year that are not Advent, Christmas, Lent or Easter. The longest period of the year, Ordinary Time is so called not because is it set apart from the ‘extraordinary’ times, but because it is time ordered for, or ordained to, the everyday living of a Christian life.”¹