February 04, 2008
Ordinary Time
The Table of Rememberance is set...Calvary Chapel of Long Beach California
Ordinary Time is a season of the Christian (especially the Catholic) liturgical calendar. The name corresponds to the Latin term Tempus per annum (literally "time through the year"). Ordinary Time comprises the two periods — one following Epiphany, the other following Pentecost — which do not fall under the "strong seasons" of Advent, Christmas, Lent, or Easter.
The term Ordinary does not mean common or plain, but is derived from the term ordinal or "numbered." The weeks in ordinary time are numbered, although several Sundays are named for the feast they commemorate, such as Trinity Sunday (first Sunday after Pentecost) and the Feast of Christ the King (last Sunday in OT), and for American Catholics, the Feast of Corpus Christi (second Sunday after Pentecost).From Wikipedia read more
I am is a sort of Ordinary time, a counting of weeks and a period of time between great seasons of my life. We are entering Lent this week and counting down towards Easter and what I had hoped would be my full reception into the Roman Church and a new spiritual time in my life...I am in the last six weeks or so of my time here on my job at thisplace, with my future schooling and new career just over the horizon...
Waiting holding my breath.
But it looks like my spritual quest is on hold. I am stuck in a beaurcratic situation that I hadnt counted on. My Chatechist and his wife who were my sponsors had a falling out with the church and left the parish. That was sad and unfortunate for me as I loved these folks and wanted to make them a deeper part of my life. Now that may not be the case. To make matters worse, my new chatechist believes that no matter if you are a new convert or a Christian wanting to be a Catholic you must go the whole way with a full on Catachetic experience, which means months of classes.... never mind that I would be bored to tears by it.
Then there is the Annulment...Both Woody and I need one. Its a huge process of soul searching questions and then contacting people to bear witness to what you have said. I have no such people in my life that can do this and frankly I fear digging this stuff...this person up. Let sleeping dogs lie so to speak. Father Andy assures me that my location will be kept secret but then, whatabout the Engineer? Its been 20 years now. What if he has a new life and his significant other has no idea of a past of any sort. Do I have the right to ruin a life by plunking a thick envelope full of searching questions on his doorstep? I think not, and I think Jesus wouldnt mind if I took the sacrament either. But that is for others to decide.
Ordinary time ends today, Mardi Gras, and I begin a Lent that will be filled with pennance, but less joy and hope. I am waitng at a crossroads of sorts, one of obedience and sacrifice, and one that I hope will be as rewarding as it can be and that my streach into Order will become a realized quest.
Labels: Catholic, Faith, Family History, Marriage, RCIA, Woody
