web analytics
Ordinal Numbers

Ordinary Time

Ordinal Numbers

This week is the 10th Week in Ordinary Time. Last time we had Ordinary Time (we stopped counting before Lent) it was the 8th Week in Ordinary Time. What happened to the 9th Week?

Firstly, let’s be clear about what “Ordinary” means here. It does not mean “usual”, “common”, “every-day”…

I’m sure you know there are cardinal numbers – that tell us “how many.” 4 posts this week. 2,000 visitors today. These are cardinal numbers.

Then there are nominal numbers. These act a bit like the name of something. A nominal number identifies something. Your phone number. Your IP number. They are nominal numbers.

Ordinal numbers count along a list: 1st, 2nd, 3rd,…

Ordinary Time is called this from ordinal numbers, counting the list of weeks: 1st week, 2nd week, 3rd week… This year (of 52 Sundays) has 19 weeks in Advent/Christmas and Lent/Easter – leaving 33 weeks of Ordinary Time. Because some years have 53 Sundays, the Church Year has 34 possible weeks for Ordinary Time. In a year like this year (52 Sundays rather than the possible 53), one week needs to be dropped. We drop the week between the start of Lent and the end of Easter. This year, it is the 9th Week we drop.

*****

But there is a message when we don’t know where the word “Ordinary” actually derives from. There is a message from “Ordinary Time” when we think it means “usual”, “common”, “every-day”…

Most of the year, 34 weeks, is ordinary – usual, common, every-day… Most of our life, in fact, is ordinary. We need to learn to live with the ordinary. If every day was extraordinary – then that would be ordinary wouldn’t it…

The incarnation (Advent/Christmas), the death and resurrection of Christ (Lent/Easter), make the year extraordinary. Otherwise, all would be ordinary. The incarnation, the death and resurrection of Christ, make our life extraordinary.

How can we help each other make our ordinary lives extraordinary?

image source

Similar Posts:

1 thought on “Ordinary Time”

  1. How sad… All the ancient Churches of West and East, of North and South (India, Iceland and Ethiopia included) have an octave of the Pentecost.

    Yet, it is difficult to find prayers addressed to the Holy Spirit; now, her octave is cut off by Rome-ish mentalities…

    There’s no high church mind in NZ to point it right?

Leave a Comment

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Notify me of followup comments via e-mail. You can also subscribe without commenting.