ON THINGS LITURGICAL
ORDINARY TIME: THE SEASON OF PENTECOST

The Day of Pentecost was when Almighty God sent the Holy Spirit to touch the lives of ordinary people. Throughout the season of Pentecost, the focus is on the Holy Spirit and the way in which it touches everyone in the world. The principal vehicle that the Spirit uses to reach throughout the world is through the body of faith, the church. In 2008, the Season of Pentecost began on Sunday, May 11 and will end on November 29. During this portion of the liturgical calendar, the church stresses vocation, evangelism, mission, stewardship, and almsgiving, among other things. Through these avenues, each of us are empowered by the grace of God to share the Gospel message with others.
The liturgical season of Pentecost is a time when Christians should take the time to look at their relationship with our triune God as they experience the Holy Spirit in their lives. The Season of Pentecost is the longest of liturgical seasons and is therefore an opportune time of letting the Holy Spirit flow through each of us in order to touch God's creation. It is opportune that church camps are held during this season. This affords those attending to appreciate God's beautiful world. Pentecost is also a time to be mindful of Christ's Great Commission to go into the world to make disciples of all nations. Instead of looking at the months of Pentecost as the "dog days of summer" or as vacation time, or time to go back to school, the days of Pentecost need to be a time of praise, of fellowship, and of spiritual renewal. Each Christian should use at least a portion of this time to draw the Holy Spirit into ones-self with every breath.
Because Pentecost is the day that God poured out His Holy Spirit on Christ's disciples, the Season after Pentecost is centered on sanctification, the work of the Holy Spirit in the day to day life of the Christian. This is reflected in the liturgical color for this season: green, the color of life and growth. In Hebrew, the same word of the color "green" also means "young." In Christian tradition, green has come to symbolize the life of the church following Pentecost, as well as symbolizing hope of new life in the resurrection.
The Season of Pentecost is referred to by some as Ordinary Time. In this case, that term has nothing to do with this time being common or mundane. Here "ordinary" comes from the word "ordinal," simply meaning counted time. For instance, the Sunday after the Day of Pentecost is referred to as the First Sunday after Pentecost, etc. This is a period of the church year not dedicated to a particular festal observance such as Christmas or Easter. The 28 Sundays of ordinary time can be used to focus on various aspects of the Christian faith, especially the mission of the church in the world. The lectionary readings for these Sundays tend to be semi-continuous readings through certain sections of Scripture, especially through the Synoptic Gospel of the year. This year, lectionary cycle A, the gospel readings are principally from Matthew. The Episcopal Church provides proper collects and readings for the Sundays of the season. These "propers" are numbered and designated for use on the Sundays which are closest to specific days in the monthly calendar, whether before or after. For example, Proper 3 is designated for use, if needed, on the Sunday closest to May 25. Proper 29 is designated for use on the Sunday closest to November 23. Prior to the 1979 Book of Common Prayer, Sundays in this long period of the church year were identified and counted in terms of the number of Sundays after Trinity Sunday- Now, you know more than you ever wanted to know about the Season of Pentecost!!

Deacon Suzanne