In the Ordinary...

Ordinary Time in the church year simply means regular or routine. No major feast days upon feasts days, no specific season to work within or keep our focus moving towards a celebration. As we settle into Ordinary Time more summer is upon us and routines begin to loosen a bit (for a lot of us) and our regular routines of life look a little different. Although vacations, different schedules and travel may be part of our summer time the gift of Ordinary Time keeps us grounded. It draws us back to our Source and provides for the routine we need to keep our faith life nourished and nurtured. I’ve been thinking about Ordinary Time over the past few days as I was simply more aware of ordinary things (and because of a list a wise woman recorded and shared with me). It got me thinking about those ordinary things in our lives and made me ask do we appreciate them?

Ordinary things like:

Music, a walk, a cup of tea, ice cream, our senses, a meal shared, gratitude expressed, flowers budding, a rain fall, a warm sweater, the phone, a listening ear, sleep, a glass of water, a chat with a neighbour or friend, the BBQ, a calendar, sunshine, a lamp, shoes and so on…

As we journey into summer time and as the church year continues in this Ordinary Time can we be more aware of these ordinary things? Can we add a prayer of gratitude for them in our day? Think about it, Jesus used ordinary bread and wine and transformed them into the great gift of himself. What a gift it is and oh how we benefit from this gift! May this inspire us to be aware of the ordinary in our lives. What are we called to transform in this season of Ordinary Time?

Fr. James M. Fitzpatrick, O.M.I. reminds us of the gift of the ordinary with this prayer:

Whenever I’m touched by the sun’s warm ray,

Whenever I wake to another day,

Whenever I feel the cool breeze blow,

Whenever I marvel at stars aglow,

Whenever I smell the rain soaked earth,

Whenever I see a child at birth,

Whenever I stand with my heart upraised –

May you, my God, be always praised. Amen.

 
Ordinary things in our ordinary days.

What ordinary things do you appreciate?

Blessings on your week.