Jun 16, 2011
I was recently having a conversation with a friend who is a part of our ministry. He is a great guy who has made enormous strides in his relationship with God since I’ve known him. He grew up in the Baptist Church, going to Sunday school, studying the bible and had a great upbringing in the faith…however he was unfamiliar with what we would call in the Catholic tradition the “liturgical year” or “seasons” in the Church (If you aren’t familiar with the Church seasons there is Lent, Advent, Christmas, Easter and Ordinary time). Over the past few years he has embraced the liturgical seasons into his life and absolutely loves them. He loves them so much that he really gets geared up for each individual season. When Lent is approaching he gets “amped” up for the 40 days of fasting, prayer and almsgiving. He does the same for Advent, Easter and Christmas. Granted, the liturgical seasons are meant for us to dive into, embrace and immerse ourselves into the mystery of Christ. The seasons are a great time to focus us, prepare us and teach us. However, the seasons are also meant to spiritually prepare us for every day life, not just the 40 or 50 days of the particular season. Each seasons aim is to draws us deeper into the life of Christ so we can live out our faith in the ordinary moments of our journey. Ironically the longest liturgical season in the Church is called “ordinary time”.
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I’m not sure about you but, Ordinary time always sounded kind of boring compared to the other seasons. It just sounds, well, ordinary. In my conversation with my friend I remember him saying, “I hate ordinary time”. My response, “why”? He goes on to say, “well, it’s long, there’s no real focus, and I feel like I’m just going through the motions until lent or advent come along.” We’ve probably all felt that way at some point, I know I have. It’s true that Advent, Lent, Easter, Christmas lead us to an apex of experiencing Christ in a unique way. In Lent we are led to the mountain of the cross. For Easter we are led to the summit of the resurrection. For Advent we are led to the high point of the incarnation in the birth of Jesus. Yet we all know that we can’t live on the top of the mountain forever, we must come down. Summits are meant for us to ascend and descend. Moses spent forty days on top of the mountain basking in God’s presence only to be commissioned to head back down to lead his people. When he got down to the bottom his face was still glowing from his experience. He spent a “season” with the Lord and this experience prepared him for what was ahead…he came down from this extraordinary experience to live his faith in the ordinary. Ordinary and extraordinary go hand-in-hand. The season of Advent, Lent, Christmas and Easter are extraordinary moments in the life of Christ and the Church that draw us up into the glory of God so we can experience the life of Jesus in an intimate way. Yet, these seasons are launching pads that send us down the mountain and into the ordinary, mundane moments of our lives to live out our faith. It’s in the ordinary that the extraordinary is lived out.
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We are called to live an extraordinary life in the ordinary moments, decisions and interactions we face every day. We are called to be extraordinary lovers of Jesus in the ordinary moments of being a mother, father, husband, wife, child, worker, boss, friend… and there is absolutely nothing ordinary about being a wife, father, husband, mother, worker, boss, child and friend who is trying to follow Jesus. Following Christ is an extraordinary call that requires everything thing we have. There is nothing ordinary about being a follower of Jesus…only that we can’t exclude living for Jesus in the ordinary…the extraordinary love of Christ must infiltrate our ordinary lives. As my friend said, “living for Jesus in the ordinary moments of my life is difficult.” My response, “I agree.” Thus, the challenge for us as we enter into the season of Ordinary time is to embrace the extraordinary call so we can live our lives for Christ in the “ordinary” decisions that we face daily.
So take the “ordinary challenge” with us as we challenge ourselves at Adore to be extra-ordinary during this season of ordinary time.
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Can you commit to the Ordinary Challenge?
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We do hope you join us on this journey with Christ.
Love,
Paul
love it! love it! love it!