Loving God,
Our church calendar tells us that we are back again in Ordinary Time. Advent passed through its four weeks. We celebrated the birth of Jesus with angels singing and shepherds visiting and magi following a star from the East and bearing gifts. Yes, we have finished this holy season. Still, somehow, this time does not seem ordinary; it is anything but that.
This “ordinary time” is marked by masked faces, social distancing, and “germ circles.” Headlines shout out frightful numbers of individuals who have contracted Covid-19, thousands every day. Each of these numbers affects the lives of spouses, children, friends with care and worry, with work to help cure and coax loved ones back to health. And the number of deaths chills survivors in worry and guilt – what should I have done, what should I do now? Just to travel to a small funeral to say good-bye to a loved one and offer you our prayer leads to days of quarantine and extra separation. Holy God, loving God, can this really be “ordinary time?”
This “ordinary time” is marked also by deep economic hardship for many. Mothers and fathers have worked hard to provide for their families, and now their jobs are gone. “Sorry, the work you have done for us is not needed any more. Good-bye!” “Sorry, we appreciate what you do, but we cannot afford it any more. Good-bye and good luck!” The ordinary ways of working and providing and living have disappeared for many.
And recently in this “ordinary time” we have seen our fellow citizens rise up in anger and violence, destroying, injuring, even killing others to push their narrow agendas. In scenes that would fit easily into war zones, they invade our honored spaces and violate standards of citizen behavior. Neighbors have turned into crazed killers. Old friends and colleagues are now out of control. Where is ordinary time?
Perhaps, Lord, no time is really ordinary. Where you are, the extraordinary tries to lift us up, to let us see beyond the everyday and catch hints of what can be, of who we could be if we gave room to our best selves, of what we could do if we banded together in common purpose and resolve.
Part of ordinary time is the dedication of health care workers. Part is families sharing resources to get through economic breakdown. Part must be the guardians of public safety who risk their lies and health, even give up that life, to keep order and peace.
We come to you, loving God, with hope in our hearts and prayer on our lips. We pray that care and compassion, watching and accompanying be part of our ordinary lives. We pray that our eyes be open to see the needs of those who struggle to provide for their families and that if we can help, we do help in ordinary ways. We pray that we try to understand each other in our struggles to make sense of the forces that are beyond any one of us, that we see beyond threats imagined or real, that we hear beyond shouted anger or mocking taunts or cursing threats and note the cries for help that rest mostly silent in ordinary times.
Holy God, you make all times holy, all places, all people in all the seasons of our lives. Ordinary time? It is all extraordinary with you.
– By Ed Schmidt, S.J., written January 12, 2021