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The End of Ordinary Time
The Chaplain Writes - November Edition
The period from the First of November to Advent is a time marked by hectic activity and restlessness. Nearly every Sunday in this period has its own focal point, which gives it a distinct lived experience for communities of faith.
First, there is All Saints on 1 November, which is a major festival in the life of the Church, a day that celebrates men and women in whose lives the Church as a whole has seen the grace of God powerfully at work. This is followed on 2 November, All Souls, a minor feast day which celebrates the saints in a more local and intimate key. It allows us to remember with thanksgiving before God those whom we have known more directly. Generally, in the minds of, or maybe in the experience of, most parishioners, All Souls is the major festival, and All Saints, well, it is All Saints.
Remembrance Sunday, which falls on the second Sunday of November, or the Sunday closest to 11 November, is observed in the United Kingdom and, therefore, here in the Church of England Diocese in Europe, as a day to commemorate the contribution of British and Commonwealth military and civilian servicemen and women in the two World Wars and later conflicts. Here we explore the theme of memory — both corporate and individual — as we confront issues of war and peace, loss and self-gift, memory and forgetting.
Our sense of the theme of busyness continues with Safeguarding Sunday in November, which this year falls on 16 November. The last act of busyness is Christ the King/Sovereign Sunday, the Sunday before Advent Sunday, marking the end of the Church year.
The above is the last Season in Ordinary Time, which “is the period after the Feast of the Presentation of Christ until Shrove Tuesday, and from the day after the Feast of Pentecost until the day before the First Sunday of Advent. During Ordinary Time, there is no seasonal emphasis, except that the period between All Saints’ Day and the First Sunday of Advent is observed as a time to celebrate and reflect upon the reign of Christ on earth and heaven.” (Common Worship)
So what do all our oppressive, abusive and warring capabilities as human beings have to do with a Season where we celebrate the expanse of the territory of our Sovereign Jesus Christ?
It acts as a reminder that we are in the company of Saints, of God’s little ones. The last who became the first, because they dared to follow the footsteps of our Sovereign, into Christ’s realm, where, in the words of the prophet Amos, justice rolls down like water and righteousness like an ever-flowing stream. We are reminded that God’s work is done in contentious spaces —spaces that need to be changed — and that we enter them as citizens of Christ’s realm.
So let us not be distracted by the busyness of this last season of Ordinary Time, but be mindful of the peace of our Sovereign Jesus Christ that we are called to bring into this world. Let us remember who we are, who made us and where we are going.
Yours in Christ as always, Rev. Jacque.