Archbishop Dolan's Thought for the Week

January 15, 2008

Well, everybody, we’re back into it. . .

Yesterday, as I set the Missal for the celebration of Mass, I saw those chilling words, “Monday of the First Week in Ordinary Time.”  Ugh!

And this Sunday we return to “Ordinary Time” for the Lord’s Day.

For nearly two months, we’ve had “biggies” -- Christ the King, Thanksgiving, Advent, Immaculate Conception, Our Lady of Guadalupe, Christmas, New Year, Epiphany, the Baptism of the Lord Last Sunday -- and now it’s Ordinary Time.

Yet, is this not precisely where “the rubber hits the road?

Is not ordinary time -- the day-in day-out, hum-drum treadmill, from hitting the snooze button on the alarm until we brush our teeth before bed -- is this not what living our faith is all about?

Seems like we have a God of ordinary time.

A God who prefers whispers to yelling,
 breezes to storms,
 those struggling through life to those who got it made;

A Lord who arrived as a baby, not a superman, who grew up obedient to a mother and father, not a child prodigy;

Who submitted to baptism and became an itinerant preacher, hardly an earthly success;

A Christ who chose a humble mother, not an elite socialite,
 twelve bumbling first-followers, not slick resumé-holding interns,
 to teach on hillsides, lake shores, traveled roads, in homes, at dinner tables, and at sick beds, not in ornate Cathedrals and polished pulpits.

A God who remains with us still in bread and wine,
 tears and smiles,
 family and friends,
 neighbors and community,
 awkward prayers, a beat-up book called the Bible, and the embrace and example of people who believe in Him.

If He were here with us today (and, of course, He is) He’d be on the bus or driving in the lane next to us, punching a time card or at the desk in the adjoining office, making beds and washing dishes, doing homework and kneeling in prayer, staying up with the sick child or at the assisted living place with grandma, working the fields or manning the assembly-line,
 trusting in His Father’s love and eager to do His will.

Ours is a God of Ordinary time.

Archbishop Timothy M. Dolan

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