2nd Sunday of Ordinary Time – January 19
(Readings: Isaiah 62:1-5, Ps 96:1-3, 7-10, John 2:1-11)
Today, we begin Ordinary Time with the 2nd Sunday of Ordinary Time. The first week of Ordinary Time began on Monday January 13. The first Sunday of Ordinary Time would have been last Sunday, but the Solemnity of the Baptism of the Lord took precedence.
Now we start ordinary time, which leads us up to Lent and Easter. Lent will start on Wednesday March 5 and ends on April 5 and Easter Starts after that.
What is so ordinary about Ordinary time? During ordinary time, we do not celebrate any particular aspect of the mystery of Christ, but rather the mystery of Christ itself is honored in its fullness, especially on Sundays.
Ordinary time lasts for 33 or 34 weeks each year, which is over 60% of the church calendar. Ordinary is defined as numbered, not mundane. The richness of Ordinary Time is found in the opportunity to know Christ more intimately in the everyday realities of life. The scripture proclaimed in Ordinary Time reveals the teaching and healing and mission of Christ, allowing us to better understand God who became human. We learn that Christ is about humility rather than pride, vulnerability rather than power. We learn that Christ is about including the excluded, eating with social and religious outcasts, and dismantling structures of sin and injustice. We learn that Christ is about self-giving love that is only possible through authentic relationship.
In the Gospel for this Sunday, Jesus and Mary are at a wedding celebration in Cana in Galilee. We hear about his first sign or wonderous deeds of Jesus in the Gospel of John . This will be the first of seven that John proclaims to us. Jesus reveals his glory and his disciples believe. This incident is unique to the Gospel of John. Cana was a small village north of Nazareth and west of the Sea of Galilee. This sign represents the replacement of the Jewish ceremonial washings and symbolizes the entire creative and
transformative work of Jesus.
The other six signs are:
- The cure of the royal official’s son – John 4:46-54
- The cure of the paralytic at the pool – John 5:1-18
- The multiplication of loaves – John 6:1-15
- Walking on water – John 6:16-21
- Restoring the sight of the man born blind – John 9
- The raising of Lazarus – John 11
I encourage you to read these chapters on the Gospel of John and pray that you will be inspired by the seven signs of Jesus.
God bless you and your families.