The majority of the liturgical year is called Ordinary Time which begins after Christmas, is interrupted by Lent, Easter, and Pentecost, and ends with the week before Advent starts (and the beginning of a new liturgical cycle).  “Ordinary Time” is not the kind of “ordinary” we speak of in our everyday conversing.  It refers to the numeric “order” (ordinal) of the Sundays that make up the weeks of the year between the special seasons.

The largest sequence for Ordinary Time starts with the Sunday after the Epiphany and concludes with the Feast of Christ the King (in late November). The 1^st Sunday in Ordinary time coincides with the Baptism of the Lord at the end of the Christmas Season.

During Ordinary Time the readings vary from Sunday to Sunday and may appear a bit disconnected (although the Gospel readings and several Pauline readings are much more sequential in content). Year A Cycle features the Gospel of Matthew; Year B Cycle that of Mark; and, Year C Cycle the Gospel of Luke.  The overall emphasis of the season is on the mission of the church and we, its members, in the world.  Further, the liturgical color of this season is a dark green, representing life and new growth. Consequently, we’ll find that the readings we proclaim challenge us to grow as witnesses of our Catholic Christian faith.

For a particular weekend liturgy’s readings click on the format you are interested in viewing or printing. We’ve also included a link to “The Word” column from America Magazine for each liturgy (if available).

For more information on this season read a brief article on the topic at this website: www.crivoice.org/cyordinary.html.