Ordinary Time?

"There are actually two intervals of Ordinary Time within the Christian church year. The first interval begins after Epiphany (the arrival of the wise men to the birthplace of Jesus) and continues until Lent (the forty days leading up to the crucifixion of Jesus). The second interval of Ordinary Time begins at the conclusion of Pentecost (the coming of the Holy Spirit) and continues until Advent (the coming of the Christ child). We are currently living within this second interlude of Ordinary Time, waiting for the approach of Advent. But this is hardly the Church's way of saying the day before us is ordinary.


Far from announcing days that are commonplace or mundane, Ordinary Time is a season of anticipated living. The term actually comes from the word "ordinal," which means that it is time "counted" or "numbered." Though the Church's festive banners may have come down after the celebrations of Easter and Pentecost have ended, the startling realities of life under the banners of a resurrected King and the presence of a Holy Comforter have begun. The Christian, the church reminds the world, lives expectantly between the power of the resurrection and the assurance that Christ will come again—as a babe in a manger, as Christ the King.


Though Jewish feasts and holy days were a major part of the lives of Jesus and his disciples, the same was true for them as it is for the church: the majority of their time together was the time between holy days. Yet far from being described as the lull between holidays, the disciples' "ordinary time" was spent healing and feeding crowds, proclaiming the kingdom, raising the dead, and learning at the feet of the Son of God. More often than not, they were genuinely surprised by the one in their midst, no matter how ordinary the day. In the everyday lives of Christ's followers today there is a similar expectant quality within each moment. It is time counted; time that matters."

Ravi Zacharias Ministries
A Slice of Infinity
http://www.rzim.org/resources/read/asliceofinfinity.aspx