Why does ‘ordinary’ sound so trivial?
Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, we are now in the season of the Ordinary Time.
Ordinary Time is a time for growth and maturation, a time in which the mystery of Christ is called to penetrate ever more deeply into history until all things are finally caught up in Christ. The goal, toward which all of history is directed, is represented by the final Sunday in Ordinary Time, the Solemnity of Our Lord Jesus Christ, King of the Universe. As with all seasons in the liturgical year, Ordinary Time is an opportunity to deepen your relationship with Jesus, grow spiritually, and participate in the life of the Church.
Ordinary Time encompasses that part of the year that does not fall within the Advent, Christmas, Lent, or Easter seasons. The Catholic Church celebrates two periods of Ordinary Time. The first period, Ordinary Time I, begins after the Feast of the Baptism of the Lord and ends the Tuesday evening before Ash Wednesday. Ordinary Time II runs from the Monday after Pentecost until Evening Prayer is said the night before Advent begins.
The word “ordinary” usually refers to something common or not exciting. So if Ordinary Time
“‘Stability under Pressure’ assures us that with the military and police trainings that we had, we can overcome obstacles, learn from struggles and benefit from mistakes.
is such an important part of the liturgical year, why does it sound so trivial?
In the religious context, “ordinary” comes from the Latin word ordinalis, which refers to an ordered sequence. Numbering the weeks in Ordinary Time (The First Sunday in Ordinary Time, The Second Sunday in Ordinary Time, etc.) helps us keep track of where we are in the liturgical year.
Ordinalis stems from the Latin word Ordo, from which we get the English word order. So the numbered weeks in Ordinary Time are actually part of the ordered or rhythmic life of the Church. Just as in our everyday lives, the Church has times of the year for celebrating and feasting (Christmas, Easter, and holy days), penance (Advent and Lent), and quiet growth and joyful expectation (Ordinary Time).
Without the periods of growth and maturation, the special occasions throughout the year lose their meaning because we don’t get a full glimpse of Jesus’ life.
For some, the New Year 2023 is not so good, with all the not-so-good news that we heard and saw wherein on the very first day right after the Holidays — the first working week of January — the Secretary of the Department of the Interior and Local Government made a surprise announcement that he is calling all the active police colonels and police generals to tender their “courtesy resignation” on the pretext of cleansing the rank and file of the Philippine National Police from misfits and scalawags particularly those allegedly involved with the illegal drug trade.
Such move has affected almost 300 senior police commissioned officers of the PNP nationwide including the 72 police colonels and police generals here in Metro Manila. If you could only see their faces and how slightly they were affected, well should I say emotionally, for I myself also feel negative about it. Not because of a guilty conscience but rather upset, annoyed.
A few days later, almost the same thing was felt by those working at the General Headquarters at Camp Aguinaldo, Quezon City where retired Army General Jose C. Faustino Jr. resigned as the Secretary of the Department of National Defense. It was a position he held since his appointment in June 2022 by President Ferdinand Marcos Jr, because of some issues within the military organization, among which was the untimely relief of then Lieutenant General Bartolome Vicente O. Bacarro as the Armed Forces of the Philippines Chief of Staff. Bacarro was replaced by General Andres C. Centino who previously served as CSAFP from 2021 to 2022. Bacarro and Centino belong to the PMA “Maringal” Class of 1988.
Having these things happening now, I can say that CHANGE is an Ordinary thing, it happens to all, experienced by all. We should be able to accept CHANGES and view them as CHALLENGES.
In the Academy, we were taught and trained. “Stability under Pressure” assures us that with the military and police trainings that we had, we can overcome obstacles, learn from struggles and benefit from mistakes that lay and build a solid foundation for our success in life.
“Without the periods of growth and maturation, the special occasions throughout the year lose their meaning because we don’t get a full glimpse of Jesus’ life.