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The Miracle of Ordinary Time

Today is the second Sunday in ordinary time. For much of my life I’ve thought of ordinary time as the “boring time” in the church year, the space holder between the important events. Today I am struck by the fact that ordinary time is the time of infinite possibility. Ordinary time is the time immediately after the creation, the birth, the resurrection, the pouring out of the Spirit. Ordinary time is the time when we are invited to work as full partners with God to move the world from potential to …

Ordinary time is everything that we can imagine in those three dots

Today’s Scripture readings highlight the miracle of the ordinary. The most striking thing about the events of both the first reading and the gospel reading is the fact that these key moments in the biblical story are not striking events. Samuel is trying to fall asleep, and he hears his name. I imagine that in that moment between being awake and being asleep most of us have “heard” something similar, but when Samuel hears, he jumps up and runs to Eli. And Eli, either with true understanding, or in his desire to sleep without interruption, is wise enough to tell Samuel to listen to what God might want to say to him. Samuel’s listening shapes the rest of the story of Israel.

In many ways, the gospel story is even more “ordinary” than the first reading. Andrew was standing with John the Baptist when Jesus walked by. John identified Jesus as someone sent by God, so Andrew decided to follow him and listen to him for the day. Andrew then decided to go and get his brother Peter and invite him to come listen too. Jesus meets Peter and gives him a nickname. Listening to that nickname shaped Peter and shaped the life of the church which we are part of.

We are not told what God said to Samuel. We are not told what Jesus said that inspired Andrew. All we are told is that ordinary people, in the course of ordinary events, chose to listen for the voice of the divine and that choice changed everything. One of the things that I have witnessed over and over in the years that I have spent working in the hospital, is the extraordinary power of being still and listening. Over and over again, I have met people who, in the face of terrible suffering, found a sense of meaning or purpose or connection, a sense of peace or joy or love which they say they never knew before. In each case it has been the act of being still and listening with an open heart that has made the difference. Sometimes it is the patient who is still and listens. Sometimes it is family. Sometimes it is staff. But always, there is stillness and listening, and then something new is born.

It is easy to think that wonder and mystery in life are elusive because they can only be found in high holy days and extraordinary events. But the truth is, the greatest wonder and mystery in life is elusive because it is hidden in the ordinary and therefore about as visible to us as the tip of our nose. I wonder what miracles would come to pass in 2024 if each of us committed to taking a few moments, before we fall asleep each day, to just be still and listen with an open heart for the echoes of God’s voice in the experiences of that day. I wonder what we would find if we made what Saint Ignatius called an “examen” of the ordinary, in order to give birth to the extraordinary.

~Pam Driedger, St. Elizabeth of the Trinity Parish Grouping