PASTORAL AND LITURGICAL RESOURCES

Ordinary Time: Summer

A Sense of the Season
What do the words Ordinary Time mean? Dorothy Day said, “The words ‘Ordinary Time’ in our prayer books put me in a state of confusion and irritation. To me, no time is ordinary.” She was right. The Ordinary in “Ordinary Time” refers to ordinal—counted—time, not to a lack of something to celebrate. The Roman document, General Norms for the Liturgical Year and Calendar, says: “Apart from those seasons having their own distinctive character [Advent, Christmastime, Lent, Triduum and Eastertime], 33 or 34 weeks remain in the yearly cycle that do not celebrate a specific aspect of the mystery of Christ. Rather, especially on the Sundays, they are devoted to the mystery of Christ in all its aspects.”
 

How do we celebrate “the mystery of Christ in all its aspects”? We gather every Sunday. Sunday is our original feast day. Christians have gathered every Sunday—the day of Christ’s resurrection, the first day of the week—ever since there were Christians.

When we gather on Sundays in Ordinary Time, as always, we hear the scriptures proclaimed. The church reads straight through “the gospel of the year,” either Matthew, Mark or Luke, each week often picking up where we left off last week. (We read John during Lent and Easter, and on feasts.) The first readings, from the first testament of the Bible, have been chosen for their relationship to the gospel passages. Many voices are heard throughout summer Ordinary Time. We also read through some of the letters of the second testament of the Bible. The mystery of Christ “in all its aspects” unfolds.
 

What is the heart of our Sunday celebration? We do our eucharist; that is, we do our thanksgiving. We praise and thank God for all creation; we pray for the whole world, as we remember Christ’s life, death and resurrection. We share the bread and wine, the body and blood. We are sent forth to be the body and blood of Christ in our homes, our workplaces, our neighbourhoods, our towns, our cities, our country, our world.
“What happens in our churches every Sunday is the fruit of our week. What happens as the fruit of the week past is the beginning of the week to come. Sunday is simultaneously a point of arrival and departure for Christians on their way to the fullness of the kingdom. This is not ordinary at all. This is the fabric of Christian living.” (Saint Andrew Bible Missal [Brooklyn: William J. Hirten Co., 1982.])

Copyright © 1997, Archdiocese of Chicago. Liturgy Training Publications, 1800 North Hermitage Avenue, Chicago IL 60622-1101; 1-800-933-1800. Text by G. Thomas Ryan. Art by Luba Lukova.

The Liturgical Season of Ordinary Time

Lasting 33 or 34 weeks, and covering almost two-thirds of the Church's year of grace, Ordinary Time is a quieter period, when the people of God reflect on the fullness of the paschal mystery of the Lord's dying and rising. Sunday is the highlight of each week's work and prayer, faith and hope, joy and suffering; each Sunday is also the beginning of another week in the Lord's service.

In comparison with the Easter and Christmas cycles, Ordinary Time is set in low key. This season is observed at two separate periods of the year:

• Between the Easter and Christmas cycles: Following Pentecost, Ordinary Time resumes for some six months. During this long period the Church calls on us to continue our efforts to love and serve God in daily life. The example and teaching of Jesus, the apostles and the prophets are presented to us each week. During the final weeks, in November, Ordinary Time looks ahead to the end of time and the coming of Christ in glory as our judge - leading us into the celebration of Advent once again.

• Between the Christmas and Easter cycles: After the feast of the Lord's baptism in January, Ordinary Time begins. It continues the Epiphany theme of the Lord's mission, revealing God's presence and action through Christ and his Church. In some churches, this period is known as the Time after Epiphany and is celebrated as a continuation of the Lord's manifestation among his people. This season continues until Lent begins.

Ordo 2006-2007 - Liturgical Calendar with Guidelines for Pastoral Liturgy
Copyright © Concacan Inc., 2006

Liturgical Calendar

     The following Liturgical Calendar is in pdf format.

       YEAR C - December 2009 - November 2010:  

Liturgical Calendar - courtesy of:
Father Fr. Bill Burke, Associate Director, National Liturgy Office
Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops (CCCB)

The Gospel of Luke - 2010

If asked to name their favourite story from the Bible, most Christians would probably choose something from the Gospel of Luke. These stories are indeed unforgettable, and the Christian tradition is graced by this gospel from Luke’s hand. It is the only one of the four gospels to describe the angel’s annunciation of the coming birth of Jesus to Mary, and the visit of the shepherds at his birth; it is the only one to tell the parables of the Good Samaritan, of the prodigal son, and of the rich man and Lazarus; it is the only gospel to relate the story of Jesus and the disciples on the road to Emmaus after the resurrection. In addition to that, Luke’s Christmas story is proclaimed by Linus on the Charlie Brown Christmas special!

Archaeologists and textual experts usually date the writing of the Gospel of Luke to around 80 ce. One piece of evidence that helps with the dating is that the gospel contains nearly all of Mark, and from this we know that it was composed after 70 ce (about when Mark was written). In addition to having Mark as a source, the Gospel of Luke shares a large chunk of material with Matthew, material that appears neither in Mark nor in John. From this we assume that there was another source for Luke, one that he and the writer of Matthew used together. Luke also had a source of information that only he used.

The evangelist Luke is also the author of the Acts of the Apostles, which is, in a sense, the second part to the gospel. This is evident from the very polished Greek of these two books, but more specifically, from the fact that both books are addressed to Theophilus, a fellow believer. (See Luke 1:3 and Acts 1:1.) Luke’s contribution, therefore, makes up more than one-quarter of the second testament.

The portrait of Jesus in the Gospel of Luke is of an itinerant prophet who is attracted to the poor and the outcast. He explains that his ministry is to them, and he envisions the heavenly banquet as filled with the poor and disenfranchised. The evangelist draws powerful portraits of despised members of the society, and much of the wonder of this compelling gospel is in its address to sinners.

The Gospel of Luke is proclaimed in Year C, the years 1998, 2001, 2004, 2007 and so on.

In art, the evangelist Luke is portrayed with a bull by his side. The feast of Saint Luke is October 18.

Copyright © 1997 Archdiocese of Chicago: Liturgy Training Publications, 1800 North Hermitage Avenue, Chicago IL 60622-1101; 1-800-933-1800. Text by Martin Connell. Art by Rita Corbin.