Ordinary Sundays

The ordinary Sundays and weekdays receive their real form and content from the celebration of the Eucharist and from the liturgical readings. We know that the Sundays have a three-year cycle of readings whereas the weekdays have only a two-year cycle. Today, through the efforts of many liturgists we have good introductions to the readings of both, Sundays and Weekdays. It would be highly beneficial for priests and faithful alike to study the introductions and meditate on the scriptural texts which are in our missal.Ash Wednesday and between the feast of Pentecost and the first Sunday of Advent. To put it differently, all the days of the Church year that are not the Advent-Christmas season or the Lent-Paschal season constitute what is called the Ordinary Time of the year. In these two periods we have 33 or 34 Sundays. In Latin this period is called tempus per annum. The 33rd and 34th Sundays have in their Liturgy an eschatological character. By all means the Church wants to keep these Sundays to remind all that the universe is moving to its final fulfilment in Our Lord., all the days of the Church year that are not the Advent-Christmas season or the Lent-Paschal season constitute what is called the Ordinary Time of the year. In these two periods we have 33 or 34 Sundays. In Latin this period is called tempus per annum. The 33rd and 34th Sundays have in their Liturgy an eschatological character. By all means the Church wants to keep these Sundays to remind all that the universe is moving to its final fulfilment in Our Lord.ime of the year is the time between the feast of the

n the feast of Pente and the first Sunday of Advent. To put it differentlyThe Ordinary Time of the year is the time between the feast of the Baptism of t

A reading from the Holy Gospel according to St Mark (6:1-6)

Jesus went to his own country; and his disciples followed him. And on the Sabbath he began to teach in the synagogue; and many who heard him were astonished, saying, “Where did this man get all this? What is the wisdom given to him? What mighty works are wrought by his hands! Is not this the carpenter, the son of Mary and brother of James and Joses and Judas and Simon, and are not his sisters here with us?” And they took offence at him. And Jesus said to them, “A prophet is not without honour, except in his own country, and among his own kin, and in his own house.” And he could do no mighty work there, except that he laid his hands upon a few sick people and healed them. And he marvelled because of their unbelief.

Comment

The people of Nazareth were, for a brief moment, on the right track. They were asking five excellent questions about Jesus. We know that on hearing him teach in the synagogue, they were utterly amazed or, in the language of our day, we might even say they were ‘gobsmacked’. The great Greek philosopher Aristotle observed, centuries before this incident in a Nazareth synagogue, that the beginning of wisdom is wonder and amazement. Well, the people of Nazareth were in a high state of wonder and they were certainly amazed.

We know this because St Mark records their reaction to Jesus: ‘Where did this man get these things? What’s this wisdom that has been given him, that he even does miracles? Isn’t this the carpenter? Isn’t this Mary’s son and the brother of James and Joseph, Judas and Simon? Aren’t his sisters here with us?’ (vv. 2-3 NIV). Their questions were leading them to explore the greatest question and most important mystery of life on earth: who was Jesus of Nazareth?

Now the people of Nazareth were doing so well, but their line of questioning did not lead to faith because they ‘took offence at him’. Their reason (for their questions were reasonable) was not married with the gift of faith and grace available to them. This was such a shame because their minds were beginning to entertain the mystery of the incarnation – God made man – one of the most fundamental aspects of the panorama of Christian revelation.

Just as we need to cultivate a sense of Eucharistic awe and wonder, so too we need to cultivate a sense of incarnational awe and wonder. Of course, the key into this mystery is faith, but we must grasp the wisdom which informs us that in order to understand, we first believe, and not the other way round. Our minds in themselves are not capable of grasping the incarnation. As St Thomas Aquinas so wisely said: ‘By his divine nature, Christ is simple. By his human nature, he is complex.’ We need the Holy Spirit to help us take hold of the mystery that God entered into human time and space. How wrong was Plato when he said, ‘Never can man and God meet’, and how right was C.S. Lewis when he stated, ‘The central miracle asserted by Christians is the incarnation. They say that God became man.’

The Ordinary Time of the year is the time between the feast of the Baptism of the Lord and Ash Wednesday and between the feast of Pentecost and the first Sunday of Advent. To put it differently, all the days of the Church year that are not the Advent-Christmas season or the Lent-Paschal season constitute what is called the Ordinary Time of the year. In these two periods we have 33 or 34 Sundays. In Latin this period is called tempus per annum. The 33rd and 34th Sundays have in their Liturgy an eschatological character. By all means the Church wants to keep these Sundays to remind all that the universe is moving to its final fulfilment in Our Lord.

History
Before the liturgical reform, the counting of the Sundays started with the feast of Pentecost. We know that in the 8th century the liturgical books of the Franks testify to this custom. In 1334 the feast of the Holy Trinity was instituted. After that some local Churches started the custom of counting the Sundays after the Feast of the Holy Trinity. In some places Sundays were counted also after the feast of Epiphany.

Feasts

During the Ordinary Time of the Year, we have seven feasts of the Lord. Three of these feasts, all of significance, are common to all the liturgical families; the four other feasts are peculiar to the West. The three Common feasts are the Transfiguration of the Lord, the Triumph of the Cross and the Feast of Dedication. The four feasts peculiar to the West – begun as such by the Western Church and movable like Easter – are: the Trinity, Corpus Christi, the Sacred Heart and Christ the King.