A MESSAGE FROM FR. PATRICK - JANUARY 13, 2023

Dear St. Martin’s Parishioners,

With the Solemnity of the Epiphany and the Feast of the Baptism of the Lord earlier this week, we close out the Christmas season and return to Ordinary Time. “Ordinary Time” refers to the part of the liturgical year outside of the Christmas and Easter seasons. “Ordinary” comes from the Latin word ordinarius, which means “orderly,” “numbered,” or “counted”; this is why this Sunday is the Second Sunday in Ordinary Time (last Sunday being the First).

“Ordinary” does not mean “unexceptional” or “boring”! While the Christmas and Easter seasons focus on the central mysteries of the Paschal Mystery (i.e., the incarnation, death, Resurrection, and Ascension of Jesus, and the descent of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost), Ordinary Time takes us through the life of Christ. And certainly, Our Savior’s life was not unexceptional! We get to experience again Jesus’ life and ministry without an intense focus on a particular event. We get to experience his preaching again, witness again the miracles he performed, reflect once more on his interactions with his closest friends. But instead of letting these salvific events play in the background like a familiar re-run of our favorite TV show, let us place ourselves in the crowd of his followers or in the room with his Apostles, and let us hear him speaking those words to our hearts directly – imagine his eyes gazing into yours as he speaks. This is the time of conversion. This is living the life of Christ.

The appropriate liturgical color for Ordinary Time is green because green is the color of growth, and we are called to grow in our faith, grow closer to Jesus, grow deeper in love with God and neighbor during this season. This time is not “ordinary”; it is anything but!

Please remember to pray for us priests, deacons, and sisters, as we pray for you. Have a blessed week.

In Jesus, Mary, and Joseph,

Fr. Patrick