May 27, 2026

Wednesday Word . . . Un-Ordinary Time

This coming Sunday is the First Sunday after Pentecost, also known as Trinity Sunday because it is the Sunday specifically dedicated to the Holy Trinity – Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. This Sunday also marks the end of what is often referred to as “Liturgical Time,” that time of year when we are focused on the events of the life of Christ: birth, baptism, preparation, death, resurrection, ascension, and the coming of the Holy Spirit.

The Season after Pentecost follows. This season is otherwise known as “Ordinary Time,” not because things are plain, ordinary, and boring, but because the Sundays that follow are simply referred to by their ordinal numbers in sequence – 1^st, 2^nd, 3^rd, 4^th, 5^th, etc., Sundays after Pentecost. Whereas Liturgical Time focused on the events of Christ's life, Ordinary Time focuses on the life of Christ. They are anything BUT boring as we hear stories of calls, healings, dead people being raised to life, commencements, family strife, and much, much more.

As we get ready to move into Ordinary Time, I'm thinking back to this past Sunday and Pentecost. I'm thinking specifically about Peter's speech to the crowds after they had heard the apostles speaking in many different languages and his quoting of Joel: In the last days it will be, God declares, that I will pour out my Spirit upon all flesh, and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, and your young men shall see visions, and your old men shall dream dreams.

This is the reading that moves us out of Liturgical Time. This is the reading that sends us into Ordinary Time. What would it look like if we lived into a summer of dreams? What would it look like if we took those Pentecost visions and worked to make them a reality?

We have all been given gifts – not only to use for the glory of God, but so that others may come to know God through us.

The Holy Spirit has descended upon us and given us power to proclaim the Good News of God in Christ. As we move forward, let us make this Ordinary Time as unordinary as possible.

Blessings,