After Pentecost Sunday, the second period (II) of the Ordinary Time of the Year resumes with the Monday immediately after Pentecost Sunday.

✓WHAT IS THE ORDINARY TIME IN THE LITURGICAL YEAR?

This is the name given to the part of the Church’s Liturgical Year that does not fall within one of the major seasons (Advent, Christmas, Lent, and Easter) of the Church and does not observe any specific aspect of the Mystery of Christ. This is the longest season of the church’s year.

The word ‘ordinary’ comes from the word ordinal which means ‘counted’. Each week is known by a number, e.g. the 20th Sunday in Ordinary Time.

✓HOW MANY WEEKS HAS IT?

It has thirty-three or thirty-four weeks (depending on the date of Easter).

✓HOW MANY PERIODS HAS IT?

The Ordinary Time is assigned two periods of the year; one short and the other very long:

Period 1(the short period): From the day after the Feast of the Baptism of the Lord to the Tuesday before Ash Wednesday inclusive. The time after the Baptism covers the beginning of Christ’s preaching, His Baptism, and His first manifestation.

Period 2: From the Monday after Pentecost to Evening Prayer 1(of the breviary) of the First Sunday of Advent exclusive. The time after Pentecost covers Christ’s Public Ministry of healing and preaching.

✓ANY CELEBRATION IN THIS SEASON?

During this time the Church continues to celebrate our Lord’s Resurrection, but in its application to our earthly live.

In contrast to the major seasons of the Church Year, which celebrate the various moments of the History of Salvation and take on their coloration, Ordinary Time unfolds Sunday by Sunday of the Ordinary time without any particular celebration, except for a few feasts of devotion or of Saints.

This Season also introduces us in a special way into the Mystery of the Church, which was born on the day of Pentecost and is laboriously built up in our history.

✓WHEN DOES THE ORDINARY TIME END?

The Ordinary Time concludes with a vision of Christ’s universal Kingship and the glory of all the Saints, which we normally call Christ the King Sunday and on the same day, we do Corpus Christi Procession in Nigeria because of weather conditions.

✓WHAT IS THE LITURGICAL COLOUR FOR THE ORDINARY TIME AND IT’S SIGNIFICANCE?

The proper liturgical color for the Ordinary Time of the year is Green. Green is the colour of plant life, abundant in spring. It signifies growth, hope, life, fidelity, fruitfulness and immortality, that comes from Christ himself.

Ordinary Time is thus a period of growth in the Faith for all who follow the Liturgy. It is a time for accentuating all the Christian virtues like faith, hope, love, wisdom, justice, courage, moderation, integrity, perseverance etc, by bringing them out distinctly; making them more noticeable or prominent; and practically emphasizing them in our Christian lives.

This is a time of bearing the fruits of the Holy Spirit whom we have celebrated on Pentecost Sunday. This is a time we know those who were actually renewed amidst all the Pentecost revivals we undertook. Yet, it’s not late; the Holy Spirit is always there for those who still are in need and in want of nourishment.

Therefore, in this season, we are aided in this silent and gradual spiritual growth by the Holy Spirit. It is He Who helps us live each Sunday, and each day, to the full. It is He Who makes of our seemingly ordinary lives an eternal offering to the glory of God.

It’s appropriate then to say that “it is important for us to immerse ourselves deeply in the spirituality of Ordinary Time because it contains the essence of who we are in the ‘everydayness’ of our Christian lives.”

Sources:
The Living Symbols of Our Christian Faith by Fr. Bartholomew Ebubechukwu Uba.
Dictionary of the Liturgy by Rev. Jovian P. Lang, OFM
https://blackburnsouth.org.au/item/2-understanding-ordinary-time#:~:text=Ordinary%20Time%20is%20the%20longest,and%20the%20other%20very%20long.

©Fr. Henry Charles Umelechi