✝︎What is Ordinary Time?

The Festive decor and white altar cloths of the Christmas season have been replaced with the greens of Ordinary Time.  The terms 'ordinary' in our common use typically refers to something being plain, unimpressive or unexciting.   For that reason, many people hear 'Ordinary Time' and they immediately think of the season as such.  But that understanding doesn't reflect the true meaning of the season. So just what is the Liturgical Season of Ordinary time?  

Here is a short explanation from the USCCB:

"Christmas Time and Easter Time highlight the central mysteries of the Paschal Mystery, namely, the Incarnation, death on the Cross, Resurrection and Ascension of Jesus Christ, and the Descent of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost.  The Sundays and weeks of Ordinary Time, on the other hand, take us through the life of Christ -
they contain the rest of Jesus' earthly ministry and some of the major events of
the Gospels we have come to know and love.

Ordinary Time is a time for growth and maturation, a time in which the mystery
of Christ is called to penetrate ever more deeply into history until all things
are finally caught up in Christ.  The goal, toward which all of history is directed,
is represented by the final Sunday in Ordinary Time, the Solemnity of Our Lord
Jesus Christ, King of the Universe."  So, as you can see, Ordinary Time calls us to the extraordinary!     
                                                                 .....Archdiocese of New Orleans, Archdiocese of Cincinnati, The Catholic Telegraph