Seasonal color:  Green

This is the longest liturgical season. It spans the weeks between the end of the Christmas season and the beginning of Lent, then starts up again at the end of the Easter season and lasts until the beginning of Advent, about 34 weeks altogether.

Ordinary time is wonderful. It is down time, a vacation from special events. It is a time that allows us to concentrate on Mass, on the everyday scripture readings, and the inspirational saints whose lives can teach us so much.

Ordinary Time is down time. It is a wonderful time for you to re-group and re-evaluate your spiritual life.

Schedule some time each and every week to be alone. Don't just think about how nice it would be if you did schedule it, actually look at your schedule and write yourself in. It could be 30 minutes one day per week in your office, 5 minutes every day locked in your bathroom, walking around the block, or any time and place when you can be alone. It doesn't matter where or when, as long as you do it!

Use this quiet time to strengthen your spiritual life. How? Read on!

• What is going well?
• What could be better? 
• Are there people you are neglecting?
• Are you neglecting yourself?
• Are you neglecting God?
• Is there someone you need to forgive?
• Do you need to be more loving to others?
• Do you have any bad habits that need to be improved?
• Are you doing too much?
• Are you so overwhelmed you cannot help anyone, including yourself?
• Are there books you'd like to read?
• Are there prayers or other devotions you'd like to practice?
• Would you like to learn more about your faith?

After using your quiet time to evaluate your spiritual life, you've probably come up with both strengths and weaknesses. Choose one area of weakness to strengthen.

This is where your quiet time becomes invaluable. Take this time to pray for help. Say some standard prayers, read the Bible, read the Catechism of the Catholic Church, just sit quietly and breathe deeply. Do whatever feels prayerful, even if praying feels a bit awkward for you.

Why pray? Because strengthening your spiritual life can seem like a daunting task. There is one way to make it much easier - ask God for help. Deciding to become spiritually strengthened means being willing to listen to God. You can willingly give up your need for control, your need to focus on yourself. Becoming spiritually strengthened means focusing on love. 

Ordinary time doesn't all have to be quiet and serious! It's also a great time to celebrate the lives of inspirational saints or other special feasts.  A patron saint or a saint who has special meaning for your family is a great choice. The following are our favorites. Try these, or find some good ones for your own family.

From Christmas to Lent

It's winter time! This part of Ordinary Time only lasts a few weeks. We're busy with school, shoveling snow, and trying to keep warm. We keep our fingers crossed that Lent starts after St. Valentine's Day so we can eat lots of chocolate on February 14th!

We also start talking about what we will do for Lent, and why Lent is such an important time of preparation.

Here are a few other feasts we enjoy:

• January 24 - The conversion of St. Paul. Paul, when he was called Saul, was present at the stoning of St. Stephen, but then had an incredible conversion experience. He spread the Good News throughout the land, and was instrumental in having Gentiles accepted into the community.
• February 2 - The Presentation of our Lord in the Temple and The Purification of Mary and Candlemas.

  Groundhog Day is our all-time favorite. It is a classic story of redemption, salvation, forgiveness, and spiritual growth. We do not recommend it for young children because of mild adult situations. We have found it to be a powerful teaching tool for our adolescents.

  Of course, this one is easy to remember because it is also Groundhog Day. That's 4 celebrations in 1! Mary and Joseph took the Baby Jesus to the Temple in Jerusalem forty days after His birth, as Jewish law prescribed. At the same time, Mary was purified in the Temple after giving birth, also prescribed by Jewish Law. A man named Simeon saw Baby Jesus in the Temple and immediately recognized Him as the Messiah, declaring Him a Light for revelation to the Gentiles. (Lk 2:32) Now we have candles blessed on this day, (aka Candlemas) celebrating Jesus as the Light of the World. Incidentally, Groundhog Day is actually derived from the Catholic feast day. Legends grew up around the feast of Candlemas and its association with weather; apparently a day celebrating light in the middle of winter could do that in the days before the science of meteorology helped out. By the time the legend got to the new world the Catholic feast day became a celebration of a groundhog. Go figure.

From Pentecost to Advent

It's summer time! This is the longer part of Ordinary Time. We could have a celebration every single day if we chose to, because there is a Saint of the Day for every single day! This is a bit too much for us, though.

We've chosen a few special feast days to celebrate. Sometimes it just involves mentioning the the feast at breakfast, other times it gets more involved. Here are our favorites:

• 1st Sunday after Pentecost - Solemnity of the Most Holy Trinity
• 2nd Sunday after Pentecost - Solemnity of the Most Holy Body and Blood of Christ
• Friday after Most Holy Body and Blood of Christ - Most Sacred Heart of Jesus
• Saturday after celebrating Sacred Heart of Jesus - Immaculate Heart of Mary
• May 31 - The Visitation. Celebrate when Mary supported her cousin Elizabeth, who was pregnant relatively late in life. The women embraced and expressed their love for each other. There was no envy, judgment, or any sign of cattiness. It is the perfect example of true friendship between women. For us this translates into Ladies' Night Out. A group of women go to evening Mass together, then go out to Happy Hour. This year we invited our priest and seminarian; we ate Mexican food, drank margueritas, and had a wonderful time! Kids and husbands spent a quiet night at home.
• June 24 - The Birth of St. John the Baptist. St. John was the last prophet of the Old Covenant, the cousin of Jesus, and the first to recognize Jesus as the Messiah (during the visitation of Mary and Elizabeth John leapt for joy in his mother's womb - Lk 1:39-45) This feast has not been promoted strongly in the United States, but historically it is such an important solemnity that it is celebrated even when it lands on a Sunday. Traditionally great fires are built to celebrate John's expectation of the Light coming to the world. We enjoy having a summer cookout, including birthday s'mores!
• July 3 - St. Thomas. Thomas is one of our favorites. He, like so many of us, had doubts in his faith. Once he was convinced, however, he was a dedicated apostle who proclaimed "My Lord and my God." He never doubted again. Tradition tells us he evangelized India, where he was martyred.
• August 6 - The Transfiguration of the Lord.
• August 14 - Feast of St. Maximilian Kolbe
• August 15 - The Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary. Don't forget, this one is a holy day of obligation!
• October 2 - Feast of the Guardian Angels
• November 1 - All Saints' Day
• Last Sunday before the beginning of Advent - Feast of Christ the King