Ordinary Hope
Dear Sisters and Brothers in Christ,
First off, allow me to extend a sincere “thank you” to all the men who are fathers and who take their vocation of fatherhood seriously. There are numerous studies that support the positive impact that loving, engaged and responsible fathers have in their homes and on their children. On this Father’s Day, may our Heavenly Father bestow grace on all fathers so they might be strengthened to fulfill diligently their ever-so-important role. Happy Father’s Day!
The Easter Season has now passed and we have commemorated the gift of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost, meditated on the mystery of God’s nature on Trinity Sunday and last weekend commemorated Christ’s enduring presence in the Eucharist with the Solemnity of the Body and Blood of Christ.
We are now back in what the Church’s liturgical calendar calls “Ordinary Time”. Ordinary Time is called “ordinary” not because it is common but simply because the weeks of Ordinary Time are numbered. It is that largest part of the year when we live out in an ordered way the mysteries of our Faith that were so wonderfully defined and highlighted in the special seasons of Christmas and Easter.
The second reading from St. Paul’s Letter to the Romans states, “Christ, while we were still helpless, yet died at the appointed time for the ungodly… Indeed, if, while we were enemies, we were reconciled to God through the death of his Son, how much more, once reconciled, will we be saved by his life.” The Letter to the Ephesians contains a rather shocking statement about our condition apart from Christ, “we were by nature children of wrath…”. But the Letter, written to followers of Christ, goes on to say, “But God, who is rich in mercy, because of the great love he had for us, even when we were dead in our transgressions, brought us to life with Christ (by grace you have been saved), raised us up with him, and seated us with him in the heavens in Christ Jesus…”
This is the hope in which we are called to live out our lives during Ordinary Time. Gratitude for the gift of salvation in Christ Jesus can help us live in a manner pleasing to God, seeking His help to make choices that are in accord with His will and for our eternal good.
Sincerely yours in Christ Jesus, the Way, the Truth and the Life,
