4 Ways to spend Ordinary Time together

Keep reading for more details about our 2021 Retreat Series. I’m excited to dive into the deep end of the scriptural themes and spiritual practices of Ordinary Time together. Invite a friend (or give them the gift of a retreat series!)

Ordinary Time retreat series (Free for Sacramental Life members and available for purchase for everyone.)
A Sacramental Life Community membership (A downloadable guidebook for the season plus 3 virtual retreats and 3 virtual check-ins during Ordinary Time.)
Daybook meditations membership (A new devotional post each Sunday during Ordinary Time.)
Stories blog membership (Short-form and long-form stories written by me and guests throughout Ordinary Time and reflecting on our callings in worship, relationship, place, work, and rest.)

What is Ordinary Time?

Some churches refer to these weeks as “weeks after Pentecost” beginning with the first Sunday after Pentecost also known as Trinity Sunday. Other churches refer to this time on the calendar as “weeks of Ordinary Time” (as in, “Today is Tuesday, the eleventh of September in the twenty-eighth week of Ordinary Time”). There are a few more variations, but I’ve found it more fruitful to worry less about what to call these weeks between Pentecost and Advent, and instead to focus and become more deeply formed in the theology of the church’s intentions. What does it mean that half of our calendar is left open to the ordinary? What does it tell us about the God who created and gives purpose to our lives?

One way I do this is to consider the parts of Christ’s life that Scriptures tell us almost nothing about. Between his newborn and toddler days which were spent in various locations of the earth, as his parents sought refuge from Herod to the beginning of his more formal ministry marked by his baptism in the Jordan River we know only a few sparse details. You could say this was the Ordinary Time of Christ’s life. The years we can patch together a few details of work and worship made up the vast majority of his days on earth.

Each liturgical cycle, we reenact that reality in the church’s calendar with days, weeks, and months of ordinary time. In the United States, this time of year (summer and autumn), the civic calendar is packed full with holidays and remembrances. The trinity of celebrations that bracket our summer (Memorial Day, Independence Day, and Labor Day) ensure we pay attention to the passing of a favorite season of barbeques, vacations, and recreation. From Memorial Day to Veterans Day, our calendars remind us to also set aside time to remember our place as citizens of our country with parades, memorials, and flag raising. (I happen to be writing this post on September 11, another day on our national calendar that will live in infamy.)

If the historic liturgical calendar teaches us to number our days to gain a heart of wisdom, there must be a lot of wisdom to be gained in our regular, working, resting, and worshipping lives. This is the model Christ seemed to have lived, and the church invites us to embrace the same pathway.

Ordinary Time Retreat Series

Through Daybook Meditations we wade into the themes and scriptures for Ordinary Time. A retreat series allows us together to dive into the deep end of living the extraordinary callings of God through our everyday, ordinary lives.

The best news is that the retreat series is part of A Sacramental Life Community’s monthly membership fee! I’ve uploaded the first part of the guidebook and additional resources on our new Ordinary Time Retreat series page.

You’re already paid in full. I only ask that you RSVP for the retreats so I can plan and pray for you.