After Mass on All Saint’s
Day, Jacob and I went candy-shopping, because stores always mark down their
Halloween candy as soon as the calendar rolls to November. We walked over to the
“seasonal” aisle in Kroger, and saw that the shelves
were completely empty, and instead of being decked out with orange and black,
had Christmas and wintery decorations. The Halloween candy was in some shopping
carts nearby, as if it was just a nuisance, something to be moved away so that Christmas
could come in. My mental reaction/thought process went something like this:
1.
Holy smokin’ incense, what is this? Moving in Christmas
already???
2.
WHY CAN’T STORES FOLLOW THE LITURGICAL
SEASON?!?!?!??!?!?!
3.
Even though stores don’t adhere to the liturgical
season, Catholics should definitely live up the liturgical season more!
4.
Then I had this little image of Ordinary Time
jumping up and down (I’m really not sure how it was personified, it was a bit weird),
shouting, “Hey! World, I’m still here!”
I
love the liturgical year. Easter Triduum is my favorite liturgical season,
followed by Easter & Lent, and then Advent & Christmas. Oh yeah…and
Ordinary Time. You know, I underappreciate Ordinary Time, and I think a lot of other
people do, as well. Ordinary readings, ordinary vestments, nothing crazy
happening, just the same thing every day. Or at least, that’s what it can seem
like. It’s not like you’re pumping yourself up for Christmas, or in hardcore
penance mode before Easter. It’s just…ordinary!
But
as I’ve researched into Ordinary Time more, and prayed about it, I’ve
grown to love it more and more. First off, “Ordinary Time” is not the
equivalent of “Boring/Standard/Normal Time.” See, “Ordinary” comes from the Latin
word ordo, ordinis, which means
order, rank, line. Ordinary Time is a season of ordered days outside of any other liturgical season.
Furthermore,
there is nothing boring about it!
Ordinary Time is crammed full of epic saints, feasts, solemnities, and overall
awesomeness. I mean, the Assumption of Mary is a solemnity and a Holy Day of Obligation—kind of a big deal—and it happens in Ordinary
Time. What about the Solemnity of All Saints, which we celebrated the other day?
Also fully awesome, and in Ordinary Time as well. Priests wear green during
Ordinary Time, a color denoting hope and new life.
I
found this really awesome quotation from Deacon Tom Frankenfield at Integrated Catholic Life:
"Ordinary Time is a time of quiet hope – a lush green meadow
of hope. As you know, the Liturgical color for Ordinary Time is the color of
hope-green. It is a change from powerful “mountain top” liturgical experiences
in Christmas and Easter and “deep valleys” during Advent and Lent. Now we are
asked to encounter the Lord in the lush green meadow of our lives."
Ordinary Time is a season for us to reflect on how God has
been working on us, and how we can better live out the call to Christian
discipleship. And I don’t know about you, but for me, that will more than the 33
or 34 weeks of Ordinary Time to figure it out.
My Suggestions for Living
the Liturgical Year:
Live in the Present: this
year, it seems like the stores are in hyper-drive. I have a friend who went to
the mall on November 1, and Christmas decorations and music were all going. I’ve
had several other friends go to the store only to see a plethora of Christmas
decorations and hear Christmas music blasting on the store speakers. But there’s
a problem with throwing yourself so wholeheartedly into the atmosphere of
very-future holidays (Christmas and Easter are some big ones). If you are
living far in the future, you are making yourself less present to the beauty in
the current liturgical season! There is more than enough time to prepare for
Christmas during the time of Advent (or at the very least, after Thanksgiving.
Though I understand now is a prime time to start on Christmas shopping—but Christmas
shopping does not mean “Christmas
atmosphere everywhere.”).
Celebrate the Saints: I
think one of the reasons Ordinary Time can seem mundane is when we forget about
the saints. But really, the saints are amazing, and celebrating their lives,
legacies, and paths to holiness will keep a person very occupied during the
liturgical year. Find a way to celebrate them that works for you, and go with
it! (though it would be difficult to go all-out for every single saint on the
liturgical calendar, pick a couple
saints each month to start with and build up) I wear a Feast Day Hat (a red and
white hat that I wear on Optional Memorials up to Feast days for saints in the
liturgy; I have a princess hat for solemnities), other people cook food (, others
make saint-related crafts, and other people pray with biographies of the saints
on their special days—and these are just a few (of many) options! Also, I have
to mention two of my favorite blogs: Carrots for Michaelmas and Catholic Fire. Both have a
huge focus on living out the liturgical year, especially with the saints! I glean so much wonderfulness from these two blogs, I recommend checking them out!
Celebrate Each Season
to the End: Last night, one of my household sisters was bemoaning the
fact that once Christmas Day is over, people act like Christmas is over! While various Catholic traditions celebrate
different time lengths of Christmas (octave, 12 Days, etc.), none of them show that Christmas in only
one day. In fact, in the liturgy, the
Christmas Season extends to the Baptism of the Lord, which doesn’t happen until
January—after the Feast of the Epiphany. From there, green vestments come back
out, though the “Christmas Cycle” (more subdued than Christmas, but still
focusing on Christ’s manifestation) is still celebrated by some who follow a
tradition of keeping up the Nativity and such till February 2, the Feast of
Candlemas J
And the Easter season totally goes until Pentecost, so celebrate!
Learn about Cool
Liturgical Traditions for Each Season: Every season has some.
The Catholic Church is over 2000 years old, there are some awesome traditions
out there. So research and find some cool stuff to bring into your life! Oftentimes,
I don’t research much during Ordinary Time, so when a liturgical season comes, I’m
completely off guard and unprepared in regards to the special traditions and devotions out there. Personally, in the next few
weeks, I want to learn more about cool Advent traditions besides the Advent
wreath, and possibly put together ornaments for a Jesse Tree (because those are
insanely cool).
Really Try to Soak up
the Liturgical Prayers and Readings: I know it’s tough, we
all get distracted (myself definitely included here!!!). But lately, I’ve
really started paying more attention to the prayers, and I keep being blown
away by just how epic they are. For
example, here’s the Prayer after Communion for St. Luke’s Feast on October 18th
(which we celebrated just a few weeks ago!): “Grant, we pray, almighty God,
that what we have received from your holy altar may sanctify us and make us strong
in the faith of the Gospel which St. Luke proclaimed. Through Christ our Lord.
Amen.” (just read that! Isn't it amazing???)
Don’t let the retail
stores steal your Ordinary Time joy! Celebrate the
awesomeness of the Christian life, and have a blast with the rest of this
liturgical season!!!!! Let’s live as liturgical people, continually worshipping
God in mind and body, offering our lives and celebrations to Him!
To quote the United
States Conference of Catholic Bishops website:
“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.”
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