Have you ever thought about the Liturgical seasons in the calendar year in terms of a ‘roller coaster’? Probably not. Neither did I, well… until now. There have been and will be, in a short period of time, many tight turns and steep slopes, and wild changes, however not unpredictable. But why is it so?
It happens sometimes that we change liturgical seasons or, that we find ourselves in the midst of a new one, almost without transition. December is gone and together with it the beauty of the Christmas season. We have just transitioned into the so called ‘Ordinary Time,’ which is anything but ordinary as it displays in front of us the entire gamut of the mysteries of Christ from now until Christ the King, with the timely “interruptions” of Lent and Easter. And this year, Lent is just around the corner.
Therefore, between the mysteries of the Infancy of Christ and the upcoming Ash Wednesday, we are left to enjoy a brief period of green liturgical priestly garments: the first few weeks of Ordinary Time, Cycle B. As anticipated in the title of this brief reflection, and if memory allows, there will be a second part next month…
An Invitation
The gospel passages we have heard recently on Sunday are remarkable! Mark begins with the strong assertion that “This is the time of fulfillment. The kingdom of God is at hand,” and an invitation to repent and to believe in the Gospel! The force of these words will still resound in our ears when, in about two weeks, we will receive the ashes on our foreheads. In fact, one of the formulae used for the distribution of ashes is ‘Repent and believe in the Gospel;’ and this is the connection with the upcoming reflection next month.
The second Sunday in Ordinary Time took us by storm with the gospel of John 1: 35-42: the entire passage is nothing but a complete program of spiritual life:
§ Behold, the Lamb of God
§ “What are you looking for?”
§ Teacher —, “where are you staying?”
(Better in Greek: where do you abide or dwell, or where do you live?
§ “Come, and you will see.”
§ So they went and saw where Jesus was staying, and they stayed with him that day.
More from Mark
Third Sunday. Here’s Mark again: “This is the time of fulfillment. The kingdom of God is at hand. Repent, and believe in the gospel”: Christ makes his first disciples fishers of men. And yesterday, January 28, “A new teaching with authority”, and the proclamation, even by an unclean spirit, that Christ is the Holy One of God.
If these are not powerful and abrupt liturgical twist and turns, then my reflection would make no sense. The point is, Catholic Liturgy is so powerful and carefully drafted that it can shake our routines, sometimes drastically, and be a “reminder” of what we are called for, that is,
§ to follow Christ,
§ to stay with him in contemplation as in adoration to the Blessed Sacrament,
§ to discover his love through his divine word as in lectio divina,
§ and to put it into practice by bringing others to the boat of the Church through our good works and testimony of Christian life.
Some have been called to the sacramentality of being “fishers of men”, but all baptized have been called to be fishers of men in a broader sense: to bring every man and woman, created in the image and likeness of God, to the salvation Christ offers to all, granted we all repent and believe in his words.
And that is the “epiphany” of Ordinary Time to which I referred.
God bless you all,
Author: The Contribution of Cornelio Fabro to Fundamental Theology. Reason and Faith: htps://www.cambridgescholars.com/product/978-1-5275-9315-2
Poesía Sacra, Quemar las Naves, and Desde Fossanova, IVE Press: htps://ivepress.org/
