I've been thinking about...

...Ordinary Time.

That is the official name of the liturgical season we find ourselves in right now.

Ordinary Time. Not the most creative title, is it? And yet, it makes up the majority of our Sundays in the liturgical year. You see, any time that we are between liturgical seasons we are in Ordinary Time. So, for example, right now we have just come off the liturgical run of Advent, Christmas, and Epiphany and coming up in about a month we’ll begin the next run of Lent, Easter, and Pentecost.

Technically speaking, we are in the third Sunday of Ordinary Time (if you must know, there are 33 Sundays of Ordinary Time this year, with a whomping 22 Sundays in a row coming up over the Summer and Fall that bridges the gap between Pentecost and Advent). And during Ordinary Time we focus on the teachings and ministry of Jesus...which is to say, the everyday, ordinary work that we as Christians and as the church are called to be about.

That is why the liturgical color for Ordinary Time is Green. Green is the color of growth, of new life bursting forth into its fullness. Think of the green grass that grows and grows and grows. Or the green leaves that shoot out from the trees. Or, since we are in the desert southwest, the green cacti that continue to thrive and grow. Just like those green plants grow in response to the light of the Sun, we too grow in response to the light of God that we have witnessed in Jesus Christ. So for these next few weeks we’ll walk along side Jesus as he calls his disciples, preaches and teaches to the gathered throngs of people, engages in his ministry of healing, and does the earthly work he was called to. And all along the way we’ll listen in for those ways that we too can continue Christ’s ministry in the world and grow in our faith as well. Happy Ordinary Time!

Yours in the journey, Rev. Brian