Trinty Sunday - Ordinary Time
The Liturgical calendar is divided into two parts. The first half of the year we remember and celebrate the events of Jesus life on earth, from Advent to Pentecost. The second half of the year starts on Trinity Sunday and is called the long green season or Ordinary Time. The meaning of the term “ordinary” in this case is based on ordinal numbers, since we delineate the Sundays as being the first, second, third, etc. Sunday after Pentecost. However, I want us to think about the more standard definition of “ordinary.” Google helped me out again with finding insights about ordinary time. First, the readings for this season describe the growth of the church and the Christian community. This is the season when we grow and sustain the seeds planted during the first part of the year. We do the watering, fertilizing, and weeding that we need to do to be able to reap a rich harvest. It is a quieter time, but no less important. Secondly, I was reminded that most of Jesus life was ordinary time. There was much more time in his life that wasn’t recorded than that which is chronicled in the Gospels. The times when he turned a lathe in his father’s woodshop, the times when he ate dinner with friends, the times he rested beside a campfire in the evening were all part of his life and ministry. They were all important to who he was and what his disciples learned from him. Our ordinary time is important also. When we sit in traffic commuting to work, when we go to our kid’s baseball games, when we work in the yard, when we relax in front of the TV, these times are just as important to God as the more memorable moments in our lives. Let us give ordinary time the attention that it deserves.
Susan Bowen
Holy Spirit Vestry