Introduction

The liturgical year in the Catholic Church is divided into two main parts: the festal seasons and Ordinary Time. The festal seasons commemorate and celebrate the key events in the life of Jesus Christ, such as his birth, passion, death, and resurrection.

The Sundays in Ordinary Time, however, do not have such an added emphasis. It’s called “Ordinary Time” not because it is ordinary or insignificant, but because the term “ordinary” is derived from the Latin word ordinalis, which means “counted.”

According to the General Norms for the Liturgical Year and the Calendar:

Apart from those seasons having their own distinctive character [Easter, Lent, Christmas, and Advent], thirty-three or thirty-four 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. This period is known as Ordinary Time (no. 43).

The Sundays in Ordinary Time, then, embody the most ancient tradition, being celebrated very much the way each and every Sunday was celebrated in the earliest decades of the Church (i.e., before the festal seasons developed).

Christians have been celebrating the paschal mystery of Christ by proclaiming the Word of God and sharing in the Eucharist Sunday after Sunday after Sunday in an unbroken tradition stretching across the centuries.

Continue reading “Jun 21, 2020: 12th Sunday in Ordinary Time (A)” →