The white vestments are gone, the Easter candle has been moved, the incense has burned out and the bells have been shelved. Today the Church descends from the euphoria of the previous weeks, inaugurated by the triumph of the Resurrection and sustained by the celebrations of the Easter season and Pentecost. This weekend we return to the Sundays of Ordinary Time. In fact, the season of Ordinary Time began some weeks ago, but may have gone unnoticed in the past two Sundays because of the celebrations of Trinity Sunday and the Solemnity of the Most Holy Body and Blood of Christ.
The word “ordinary” used to describe this season is taken from the Latin ordo, meaning ‘to order’. As such, the Sundays in Ordinary Time are numbered; eleventh, twelfth, thirteenth and so on.
Despite its name, Ordinary Time is anything but ordinary in nature. The universal norms on the liturgical year – set out by the Congregation for Divine Worship – remind us that during Ordinary Time, “no particular aspect of the mystery of Christ is celebrated, but rather the mystery of Christ itself is honoured in its fullness.”
This notion is echoed in today’s readings, which help us to uncover the mystery of God in all things. Like the seeds that sprout and grow into the largest of plants and branches and which surround us in our sacred environs, we are reminded that God can be found within and throughout all things.
Today, as we enter deeply into mystery of God’s love, we pray for the wisdom to see God at work in all things. Like Saint Paul, may we surrender to walk by faith and not by sight as we bear the fruit of the Good News sown into our hearts when God loved us into being.