The beginning of "Ordinary Time"

Ordinary Time is not a season, like Advent, Christmas, Lent, and Easter. It is just a way of describing the weeks between seasons. We often think of “ordinary” as being something regular, plain, run of the mill. But it also has another meaning: “counted.” Ordinal numbers are first, second, third, fourth, etc. So, the Church is counting the weeks between the liturgical seasons.

There are two blocks of Ordinary Time. The first block is between the seasons of Christmas and Lent. The second block is between Easter and Advent. In total there are 34 weeks in Ordinary Time. On most days in Ordinary Time, the liturgical color is green. Each year at Sunday Mass for the majority of Ordinal Sundays, we read through one of the Gospels. This year, we shall be following the Gospel according to St. Mark. (Cycle B).