Sunday January 10, the Feast of the Baptism of the Lord, marks the end of the Christmas season. It is the last of the feasts celebrating God’s “showing forth” the Son to the world (as in the birth in Bethlehem and the coming of the wise men from the East).
 |
| A very "ordinary" baseball bench |
Then on Monday, January 11, we begin what is called on the church’s calendar “ordinary time.” The adjective ordinarius in Latin means “in numerical order, numbered,” and refers in this instance to the fact that the weeks in this part of the liturgical calendar are simply referred to by number. Thus we begin the “first week of ordinary time” on Monday.
Doris Kearns Goodwin’s 1995 book about World War II and President Roosevelt is entitled “No Ordinary Time,” a perfect title to describe those war years. I think of this title twice each year -- at the end of the Christmas season and at the end of the Easter season -- when the Church's calendar returns us to “ordinary time.”
What a misleading name! At least if we called it “numbered time” we’d realize that the church is not suggesting that we all now return to a life that’s just “ordinary.” This year a least, thanks to to pandemic, no one will be tempted to think that we are living in a time that is "ordinary." Our lives have been disrupted and turned upside down, sometimes painfully or even tragically. No, this is no ordinary time.
This year it is especially important to remember that no Christian's life is ever supposed to be “just ordinary” -- our baptism has given each of us a role that is in fact pretty “extraordinary.” This pandemic time offers each of us new and unexpected opportunities to live out our baptismal role, especially with regard to our brothers and sisters, whether physically present or distant.
One way to look at your extraordinary calling as a Christian is to reflect on the first reading for the Feast of the Baptism of the Lord, as we head into ordinary time.
Traditionally taken as a prophecy concerning Jesus in his role as “the Suffering Servant of the Lord” from Isaiah 42, this passage tells us something of our own role received as a result of our own baptism. Try reading the entire citation below as if it were meant for you. If it’s about Jesus, it’s also about you and the way you should live your not-so-ordinary life.
Thus says the LORD:
Here is my servant whom I uphold,
my chosen one with whom I am pleased,
upon whom I have put my spirit;
he shall bring forth justice to the nations,
not crying out, not shouting,
not making his voice heard in the street.
a bruised reed he shall not break,
and a smoldering wick he shall not quench,until he establishes justice on the earth;
the coastlands will wait for his teaching.
I, the LORD, have called you for the victory of justice,
I have grasped you by the hand;
I formed you, and set you
as a covenant of the people,
a light for the nations,
to open the eyes of the blind,
to bring out prisoners from confinement,
and from the dungeon, those who live in darkness. (Is. 42:1-4, 6-7)
There are a lot of verses here that offer us some direction as to how to live our baptismal commitment during these extraordinary times. Take this one, for example: “a bruised reed he shall not break, and a smoldering wick he shall not quench (v.3 )”.
The Servant of God, in other words, is going to be characterized by gentleness toward people and situations. and we are each called to be "servants of God" in our daily lives. The gentle approach to life means accepting people and situations that I cannot change, without having to "fix" every person or every situation to fit my wants or needs.
I ask the Lord to help me to recognize every opportunity to be "gentle" towards my students, toward my brother monks, and toward whatever situations I may encounter in the coming weeks and months of this unique ordinary time.
If I could really manage to practice that gentle approach every day, then my life surely would be “no ordinary time.”
No comments:
Post a Comment