ORDINARY TIME
On the liturgical calendar summer months are sometimes referred to as "Ordinary Time." There are nearly six months of “Ordinary Time” (from “ordinal,” or “related to a series”) between Pentecost and Advent. In our Sunday Gospel readings, we hear a chronological set of stories narrating Jesus’ life, this year selected from the Gospel of Luke. From ten thousand feet, the Christian Year appears divided almost in half: about six months of holy seasons (Advent, Epiphany, Lent, Eastertide), and about six months of Ordinary Time.
Like a pendulum swinging back and forth, or a pair of lungs breathing in and out, the church alternates between these two movements each year: high holidays and everyday life, the joys of celebration and the gritty work of growth.