With the end of the academic year approaching, it can be hard to think of anything other than finals, overdue assignments, and turning in PE hours. By the time the school year is over and done with, it’s mid-June and the Church has moved into a new liturgical season right under our noses: Ordinary Time.

Ordinary Time seems to get a bad rap for being the “in between” liturgical season in which nothing “exciting” happens. We tend to count down the days till it’s Advent again. Our faith sometimes takes a back seat while we wait for the next big feast day to roll around. Honestly, a lot of us just ignore the liturgical calendar between Pentecost and the solemnity of Christ the King.

In reality, Ordinary Time may just be one of the most beautiful liturgical seasons of the year.

Think of it this way: the liturgical calendar can align well with the way our lives play out. We have exciting periods of time when big events and milestones keep us busy and stimulated, and where it’s not hard to stay motivated. These periods are like the big liturgical seasons: Advent, Lent, Christmas, Easter, and Holy Week.

But most of our time on earth is spent in a sort of in-between period, where we go about living our daily lives. Again, this mirrors the liturgical calendar, where nearly two-thirds of the year is spent in Ordinary Time.

Like in Ordinary Time, our faith can tend to waver between major life events. We can start to go through the motions, never really paying attention to the beauty and goodness around us in our daily lives.

This is when our faith matters the most.

There’s always something to celebrate and be grateful for in our lives, be it the blueness of the sky, the beauty of nature, or the kindness of a friend or sibling. The same goes for Ordinary Time. The long periods of supposed inactivity are actually filled to the brim with the feasts of saints and important dates in our Church’s history. There really isn’t much reason to be “bored” during Ordinary Time.

But that really doesn’t matter, does it?

What matters is that we keep our eyes turned towards heaven, even when we feel like we’re just waiting for something to reignite the fire in our hearts. We shouldn’t have to wait for a big religious feast to get our faith life moving again. Our faith is most beautiful when we don’t feel like practicing it, but we do our best to bring God glory anyway.

How do you plan to keep the fire of the Holy Spirit burning in your heart this Ordinary Time? Share with us in the comments!

“Remain humble. Remain simple. The more you are so, the more good you will do.”
~St. John Vianney