This week we begin Ordinary Time. When we returned to Ordinary Time, one of my mentors would always say, “for God, there is no ordinary time; it is all extraordinary.” So true, yet this year’s Ordinary Time may have never been so welcomed in our lives. I think that we would all like ordinary to return. It seemed in past years when the Church entered into Ordinary Time after Christmas or Easter Season it may have felt as if the mystery faded away. But it seems this year we are looking to welcome “ordinary time” with open hearts and a new perspective of our utter dependence on God and our interdependence on one another.
The virus has caused a great deal of turmoil in our individual and collective psyches. Some have turned to violence and hatred. Violence is never an acceptable way to approach the difficulties of life. We must pray evermore for peace and the conversion of hearts to the Lord. Lord, we pray that we can have both an “ordinary” and extraordinary year of Your Mercy and Grace.