ORDINARY TIME

The Ordinary Time in the liturgical calendar of the Church refers to the ordered life of the Church in watchfulness and joyful expectation of the Second Coming of Christ.  Ordinary comes from the Latin word, ordinalis which means numbers in a series. It also comes from the Latin word, ordo which means order. The weeks in the ordinary time are numbered. God is a God of order not of chaos. The liturgical color for the ordinary time is green which refers to spiritual growth, the movement of time towards its fulfillment. Jesus is the fulfillment because He is the Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end. God is the author of time. During this ordinary time, we are empowered to grow and mature in faith. That is, to learn to love the way God loves. And God loves to the end and He gives all. Jesus restores order in creation. His healing reveals that He is the Strong Man and He overpowers Satan. His healing manifests that the reign of Satan is ended and the kingdom of wholeness, harmony has arrived. On the Cross, He defeats evil, sin and death forever by the power of God’s love. He creates a new family that is an  undivided household and open to all. The new family is focused on doing the will of the Father. And the will of the Father is our well being so that we become the best that we can be. The new family is based not anymore on blood ties nor on culture, nationality  and race. The new family is based on the obedience of faith. Obedience is to allow God to use us, to empower us the way He loves, to love to the end and to give all. Obedience leads to blessing and life. Disobedience leads to curse and death. Ordinary time is a time to journey towards our true home. In fact, our ultimate home is with God. He wants us to live with Him in eternity, in His kingdom. St. Augustine said that our hearts are restless until they find rest in You. God alone can satisfy us. That is why, we are never satisfied with the things in this world because we are meant to be with God in eternity. The only thing that we bring with us to the next life is not what we possess but what we have given away on earth. Therefore, we are called to be part of the new family of Jesus by doing the  will of the Father and keeping His commands of love because in that way we bear fruits that will last.