By: Bernadette Parrott
Welcome to our Faith Renewal Series that is exploring The ABCs of Being Catholic. We are invited on a journey through the alphabet to explore Catholic terms, beliefs, and traditions. In this post we focus on the letter “O”.
If you missed our Introduction to this series <click here>. To go back to the letter “N” post <click here>. To go to the letter “P” post <click here>.
Ordo
June 10, 2021
Have you ever wondered how Father and the ministers who assist him know which feast, what colour, or which prayers need to be celebrated on any particular day?
Each parish has its own Ordo, an annual calendar which contains abbreviated direction for each day’s Mass and Divine Office. It’s beautifully organized daily and a wonderful reference that helps Father and ministers prepare for the daily celebration of Mass. It is connected to the prayers contained in the Roman Missal (the prayers of the Mass), the Sacramentary used by the priest and the Lectionary (used for readings).
If you come early enough to Mass, especially on a weekday, you may see the Sacristan referring to the Ordo to ensure the proper prayers are prepared for that Mass.
So, sure, it’s vital that the correct prayers and readings are ready for each Mass, but the Ordo may call us to a deeper relationship with Jesus.
How do you prepare for Mass? Have you pre-read the readings, and you prayed the prayers of the day or reflected on the introduction that is printed in the missals used by parishioners?
It’s important that we bring our day with us to Mass. That we place it at the Altar and offer it to Jesus, whether it’s a prayer for healing, a prayer of thanksgiving, a prayer of intercession. Bring the joys, the sadness, the hurt and pain, the celebration, the failures, the accomplishments. Bring it all. If we prepare our hearts as we come to celebrate the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass, we will most certainly experience the indwelling of the Spirit within us. We will indeed be empowered to take on the day or the week strengthened with God’s love for us.
We may not have our own personal Ordo, but I encourage everyone to have their own missalette so that we can properly prepare for Mass. Let’s be people of God – let’s be the arms and legs and faithful disciples.
Ordinary Time
June 3, 2021
There’s nothing ordinary about Ordinary Time
Pentecost Sunday is a beautifully powerful celebration of the birth of the Church with the coming of Holy Spirit into the people of God – you and me and it closed the Easter Season. Monday ushered in Ordinary Time on the Church’s Liturgical Calendar.
There are two seasons of Ordinary Time on the Liturgical Calendar with the other taking place right after the Christmas Season. This season we are now in is the longest of the two. It will continue until the First Sunday of Advent.
However, Ordinary Time is a when we as the Church empowered by the gifts and fruits of the Holy Spirit really shine. But it also holds beautiful Solemnities that are celebrated with great joy:
- The Sunday after Pentecost brings us the Solemnity of the Most Holy Trinity
- The following Sunday is The Body and Blood of the Lord
- That following Friday is the Sacred Heart
- June 24 we celebrate the Birth of St. John the Bapitst
- June 29 we celebrate St. Peter and St. Paul
- August 6 is the Transfiguration of the Lord
- September 14 is the Triumph of the Cross
- August 15 is the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary
- November 1 is All Saints
- November 2 is All Souls
See – not that ordinary. Well, OK, I agree that just a few days out of an extended time, so what about all the days in between those major ones listed above?
It’s during this season of Ordinary Time that we truly come to know Our Lord. We experience his miracles, his parables, the calling of the twelve apostles, the Sermon on the Mount, the Bread of Life discourse and so much more. This is when we can relax into Our Lord, be a part of His life and teachings and allow the everyday to become a part of our every day. It is a time of conversion, of commitment and growth. It is the time that we can really challenge ourselves to live our faith with conviction with worrying about Christmas or Easter secular hype.
So, I guess the real question of Ordinary Time is how will you be Extraordinary?
How will you shine in your everyday actions?
If you missed our Introduction to this series <click here>. To go back to the letter “N” post <click here>. To go to the letter “P” post <click here>.