It’s now “Ordinary Time” in the Church calendar, as well. From Pentecost until Thanksgiving we only have a few Holy Days and Feast days to celebrate. While the seasons of Advent, Christmas, Lent and Easter take us through the story of our salvation, these next six months focus our attention on the Christian life as one lived fully under the influence of the Holy Spirit. The daily Mass readings enable us to reflect on our lived experience of faith before the backdrop of the life and ministry of Jesus. Throughout the season of ordinary time, we insert our lives into the Sermon on the Mount, into the Beatitudes, into the miracles and parables of Jesus, giving the Lord the opportunity to reveal more of his love for us in simple ways.
Given how active our lives have become, we tend to fill up what could be simple, more ordinary periods of time in our lives with even more activities. Club activities, 4-H projects, summer camps, and more keep young people on the go. We are competitive people. We compete not just in sporting events, but academically, as well. There are winners and losers in everything from speech contests, academic decathlons, STEM projects and robotics to the coveted purple ribbon for you name it at the State Fair. Often without realizing it, we actually resist ordinary time in our lives.
Yet it is when we slow down – yes, even get bored – that our minds begin to reflect, wonder, imagine, and consider things that present themselves to our awareness. Without periods of inactivity and silence, it becomes difficult to pick up on the inspiration of the Holy Spirit. Unless we reduce our involvement in so many albeit good things, we will not be able to perceive God at work in our lives. St. Teresa of Calcutta often said, “In silence, God speaks.” Frankly, there are times when we may actually be afraid to give God the space to come close to us. Perhaps we are uneasy about what we think he would say to us. Nevertheless, Psalm 149 says, “The Lord takes delight in his people.” Wouldn’t you like to perceive his particular delight in you?
Summer can be a time when we practically recreate ourselves to death! With more hours of daylight we go – go – go and often avoid the thoughts and feelings that make us uncomfortable. Yet these very thoughts and feelings are there and need to be acknowledged and related to the Lord. This would help us sift through what we are thinking and feeling to discover what is of the Lord and what is not. Instead, we think the worst of God and just avoid the intimacy of God’s affectionate regard for us. Yet there are several stories in the Gospel when Jesus came close to someone and healed not only their bodies but renewed their minds and hearts with His love. Thus, a simple prayer might be, “Jesus, come near to me and love me like that.”
In this way, ordinary time can become extraordinary as we see in the life of Mary, in particular at the Annunciation. Our Blessed Mother lived a totally recollected life. Without the communication and transportation options that make our life so frenetic, Mary was quietly at home. Every day was ordinary time for her. And on one ordinary day, something extraordinary happened. The Archangel Gabriel appeared to her and announced to her God’s invitation to become the mother of His only Begotten Son. Because Mary was disposed to hear and trust the Lord, she was able to give herself fully to His plan for her. Mary is known as she who is “full of grace” because she accepted what God was asking of her.
Throughout the year we ought to build “ordinary time” into our daily routine. I would encourage you to take a small room in your house and turn it into a kind of chapel – a place where you can pray, reflect and be still with the Lord. Decorate it with a crucifix. images of our Lord, our Blessed Mother, your favorite saints, and perhaps verses from the Bible that you find inspiring. Get a comfy chair and set a small table with a lamp next to it. Enthrone the Bible on a book stand of some kind and keep other devotional books there as well. Maybe have some Gregorian Chant playing on Pandora that will make the setting more prayerful. Start your day there in the morning and end it there in the evening. Stop in at other times of the day, even for just 5-10 minutes, to” hear yourself think” or hear the Lord speak to your heart.
We all need ordinary time in our lives and most of us need more of it than we are getting. But if you are afraid to be like our Blessed Mother and let God have his way with you, just start simply. Take the first step. Stop by your local Church once in a while and park there in a pew for a few minutes. With no one else there, speak to the Lord who is present. Tell him what’s going on in your life. Ask for what you desire and then be still and allow yourself to simply “be” with him. Afterall, this is the ordinary exchange of friendship. This is how friends deepen their understanding of each other, and how they grow deeper in friendship. Just let it be an ordinary encounter.
Whether you stop by your Church on a regular basis, or arrange a prayer room at home, or lay out on a blanket under a tree in your back yard and listen to the birds, or go for a nature walk, or find some other way to be with the Lord, believe that he is waiting for you, and his Holy Spirit is advocating for the ordinary time the Lord wants to spend with you, because you’re worth it! You’re worth every drop of His Most Precious Blood that Jesus shed for you. Your ordinary time in life can be the most extraordinary time for the Holy Spirit to amaze you!
