Today, the Church re-enters Ordinary Time. It bears repeating that “Ordinary” in this regard is not contrasted with “Extraordinary.” Rather, it refers to “ordinal.” Ordinal, in turn, refers to things in a numbered sequence: first, second, third, fourth, etc. When it comes to the liturgical year, what the Church numbers are Sundays. The difference is that instead of the Second Sunday of Lent, we say the Second Sunday in Ordinary Time.
Called the Lord’s Day, each Sunday is a “little” Easter. When you count the days of Lent starting with Ash Wednesday to the beginning of the Triduum, the first thing you notice is that this penitential season appears to be longer than forty days. To get to forty days, you must subtract Sundays, which are never penitential days and, therefore, do not count as days of Lent!
Today is Monday of the First Week in Ordinary Time. This coming Sunday will be the Second Sunday in Ordinary Time. For most Roman Catholics, the feast of the Lord’s Baptism is the Sunday after 6 January. For Roman Catholics in the United States, Epiphany is observed the second Sunday after Christmas rather than on the traditional, fixed date. And so, for us, Epiphany falls between 2 January and 8 January. Hence. most years the Feast of the Baptism of the Lord is the third Sunday after Christmas.
However, when the second Sunday after Christmas is the seventh or the eighth of January, Roman Catholics in the United States observe the Feast of the Baptism of the Lord the very next day, Monday. When the Feast of the Baptism of the Lord, which is not a holy day of obligation, is observed on Monday, Christmas ends somewhat anti-climactically. This last occurred in 2024 and will next happen in 2029.
It seems fitting note that we never observe the First Sunday in Ordinary Time. Because the liturgical year is so important for cultivating a truly Catholic and ecclesial spirituality, it is useful to understand it detail. Hopefully, you find it interesting too.
Isn’t it fitting that we begin Ordinary Time with what happens following Jesus' Baptism? Skipping over, as Mark largely does, His sojourn in the desert, Ordinary Time begins with the Lord’s proclamation of God’s kingdom and, in light of that, the call to follow Him. Today, 12 January 2026, is no less “the time of fulfillment” than that day when Jesus emerged from forty days in the desert and proclaimed the “kingdom of God is at hand.” Today, He is calling you to follow Him.
In all three Synoptics but especially in Mark, there is an urgency and immediacy to Christ’s summons. I urge you to ask yourself, “What nets do I need to abandon to follow Jesus?” If her husband, Elkanah, should’ve been worth more than ten sons to poor, barren Hannah, how much more should Jesus Christ be worth to you? As the witness of so many saints show us: Jesus + Nothing= Everything.
As we begin Ordinary Time, a holy season, a season for growth, let’s invoke the words of the Psalmist and implore God to “Teach us to count our days aright, that we may gain wisdom of heart” (Ps 90:12).
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