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Dear St. Christopher’s Family,
Welcome to Ordinary Time. Ordinary simply means that the Sundays are numbered, 1st, 2nd, 3rd, etc. It does NOT mean that there is nothing special about these Sundays. Every Sunday is a celebration of the Resurrection, and every Sunday is a reminder that we have been set free, from sin and death.
But those are not the only freedoms we celebrate. We also remember this week (yesterday, in fact) Juneteenth, the day in 1865 that freedom was proclaimed to enslaved people in the American South. This is not a new holiday, but this year will mark only the 3rd time we have officially celebrated it as a nation. We are removed by time from the original High Holy Days of our faith: Passover and Exodus; that first Easter and the empty tomb; from the first time the Holy Spirit was poured out on Jesus’ disciples.
The celebrations of these High Holy Days are what equip us to celebrate any time people are set free. It is what Jesus was talking about when he proclaimed why he came in the first place and what God was preparing us for (Luke 4:16-21):
When he came to Nazareth, where he had been brought up, he went to the synagogue on the Sabbath day, as was his custom. He stood up to read, and the scroll of the prophet Isaiah was given to him. He unrolled the scroll and found the place where it was written:
“The Spirit of the Lord is upon me,
because he has anointed me
to bring good news to the poor.
He has sent me to proclaim release to the captives
and recovery of sight to the blind,
to set free those who are oppressed,
to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.”
And he rolled up the scroll, gave it back to the attendant, and sat down. The eyes of all in the synagogue were fixed on him. Then he began to say to them, “Today this scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing.”
It is for freedom that we are set free, and until we are all free, none of us are.
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