I like the rhythm of the church calendar and the seasonal celebrations that go with it. Those meaningful markers provide a framework that shapes the days, weeks and months of the year. Advent, in December, prepares us to enter into the Nativity story. In March or April we observe Lent, focusing on the cross, which leads up to Easter and the triumph of the empty grave. In May, we rejoice in the Ascension of Jesus and the coming of the Holy Spirit.

But what about now?
What high and holy day is next?

According to the 2024 liturgical calendar, May 20th through November 30th marks a season called “Ordinary Time.”

Ordinary Time.

It turns out that this season is the longest, which seems fitting.

So many of our days are routine, unremarkable, commonplace.

Could Ordinary Days be the best days of all?

No gifts to buy, no decorations to create, no traditions to uphold.

No cut-out cookies, no chocolate bunnies, no hustle and bustle.

Instead,

a day to wake up and walk in the early morning air,

a day to make some sandwiches and wash some dishes,

a day to pull some weeds and arrange some flowers,

a day to love some people and serve some brothers and sisters,

a day to laugh or cry or wait or move,

a day to lift my eyes and and listen for trumpet sound —

any ordinary day in Ordinary Time can become extraordinary.

Welcome to Ordinary Time, my friends!

Celebrate this extraordinary day!

Take your everyday, ordinary life—
your sleeping, eating, going-to-work, and walking-around life—
and place it before God as an offering.  
Romans 12:1
The Message