The first week of Ordinary Time begins today, January 10, 2017 with green as the seasonal color. Ordinary Time is the only liturgical season that is celebrated in two phases.  This is the first phase of Ordinary Time, which will last until the first day of Lent, Ash Wednesday (this year, March 1, 2017).  The second phase of Ordinary Time begins the day after  Pentecost Sunday (this year,  June 5, 2017) and lasts until the First Sunday of Advent (this year, December 2, 2017).

There is nothing ordinary about Ordinary Time!  Ordinary Time gets its title from the word “ordinal” which means “numbered.”  Ordinary Time means that it is “numbered time.” It wasn’t meant to refer to this period in the liturgical calendar as being run of the mill or average.

This is a time set aside to reflect on our call to follow Jesus Christ on a daily basis – nothing ordinary about that!