The Liturgical Calendar
|
The liturgical calendar is a way of telling a story that centers on the saving work of God in and through the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus. The year is divided into seasons that have specific themes and practices that help us live into the story of Jesus.
The resources that print and poem provides focuses on the liturgical seasons of
|
|
ADVENT
A new liturgical year begins with Advent. The word Advent comes from the Latin word “adventus” which means arrival. This first season consists of the four Sunday’s leading to Christmas Day, when we marvel at the arrival of the promised Messiah. While we look and wait with expectation for God to fulfill his promises, we practice patient hope. At the same time, we lament over the brokenness all around us and in us and pray with earnestness for God to make all things new.
|
|
CHRISTMAS
Christmas Day is the first major feast day in the liturgical calendar, so it’s time to eat, drink, celebrate, dance, and sing. What God has done is so marvelous, so beautiful, and so good that the liturgical calendar gives us a season of twelve days to ponder and revel in the mystery of the incarnation.
|
|
EPIPHANY
The season of Epiphany begins with the Feast of Epiphany on January 6 and ends the day before Ash Wednesday, the first day of Lent. Depending on where Easter lands (it’s a moving holiday) the season of Epiphany can be as short as four weeks and as long as nine weeks. The word Epiphany means “to appear” or “to bring to light.” It’s a season of increasing light as we begin to see more clearly that the vulnerable baby born in a manger is the glorified King of heaven and earth. Epiphany ends with the lights on maximum as we see Jesus transfigured on the mountaintop on the last Sunday in Epiphany.
LENT
The forty days of Lent can be summed up with one powerful word – Return. Many times over the course of our lives we leave the well-marked path of wisdom. We wander, we take short-cuts, we blaze our own trail and eventually without fail - we get lost. The word Lent comes from a Latin word meaning “fortieth.” Lent is a rich season that emphasizes repentance, fasting, prayer and turning toward God for mercy and forgiveness.
|
|
EASTER
Alleluia – Chris is risen! Easter Sunday is the second major feast day so it’s time to celebrate.The liturgical calendar gives Easter an entire fifty days and just like Christmas, a single day is not sufficient to explore the wonder and far reaching implications of Jesus rising from the dead. The season of Easter is filled with the wonder of God’s power and love demonstrated in the resurrection. An important aspect of these fifty days is to respond in gratitude to God – by living for him and by telling others of his marvelous deeds.
ORDINARY TIME
Pentecost Sunday is the third major feast day (along with Christmas and Easter) and it kicks off the second part of the liturgical year – a long stretch called Ordinary Time. This special part of the year starts with Trinity Sunday and ends with Christ the King Sunday, the last Sunday before Advent. At the start, Trinity Sunday reminds us that we live, move and have our being within the life of the Triune God – Father, Son and Holy Spirit. At the end, Christ the King Sunday puts the spotlight firmly on Jesus, the exalted king of heaven and earth. Through Christ God is working, loving and reconciling all things to himself.
|
|
