Nothing Ordinary about it!

Fr. Kevin Dillon

Fr. Kevin Dillon is the Pastor of St. Boniface Martyr Parish, Sea Cliff, Long Island, NY.

With Easter over, and our Parish Feast behind us, we have begun to settle into the summer season. Life for most will slow down a bit; schools will close soon and people will begin to enjoy the warmer weather with trips to beaches, pools and other summer time destinations. For us as Catholics, we have entered into the liturgical season called ORDINARY TIME.

While the connotation of the word Ordinary in popular usage is used to describe things that are dull, non-descript or run of the mill, in liturgical circles Ordinary means customary, regular or ordinary. Ordinary Time may also be called Ordinal Time, which means numbered time. Hence Ordinary Time is the standard, orderly, counted time outside of the other liturgical seasons. Ordinary Time does NOT need to be ordinary and should NOT be considered a time when nothing special happens!

It is actually a time to celebrate the Mystery of Christ in all its aspects. Some important feasts and solemnities occur during this season, i.e. Corpus Christi, Exaltation of the Holy Cross, and All Saints to name a few. We also celebrate events in Jesus’ life that were ordinary, much like ours. For example we have all been invited to people’s homes for dinner or to weddings and other parties, so was Jesus. The Wedding at Cana is a prime example of this; Jesus was an invited guest to a party. Jesus lived his life fulfilling the work of the Father and promoting His mission by preaching, teaching and sometimes, simply being present to others.

We, too, try to live out our callings as a people of faith carrying out our daily obligations as best we can and tending to the needs of others. In all we do whether it is in word or deed we should remember that we are giving Glory to God and putting our faith into practice. Woody Allen is famous for saying that we get credit for just showing up, but on any of these nameless days it is likely that unconsciously we are carrying out our obligations doing our work as well as we can; keeping our word and in the simplest of ways, as through an understanding word or embrace being true to ourselves as we strive to love somebody else.

Many people here at St. Boniface live these words day in and day out in their own lives. Two weeks ago we came together as a Parish to celebrate our Feast by the Shore. A heartfelt and sincere THANK YOU TO ALL WHO HELPED MAKE THIS A FINANCIAL SUCCESS AND AN EXTRA SPECIAL THANK YOU TO THE CORE COMMITTEE WHO CHAIRED THE EVENT AND WENT ABOVE AND BEYOND THE CALL OF DUTY TO MAKE THE FEAST SUCH A MEMORABLE AND ENJOYABLE OCCASION! THERE IS NOTHING ORDINARY ABOUT THE PEOPLE AND THE FAITH FILLED GENEROUS SPIRIT THAT PERVADES THIS PARISH! ALL WHO HELPED SIMPLY DID IT BECAUSE THEY LOVE SOMEONE ELSE, JESUS CHRIST AND HIS HOLY CHURCH.


Fr. Kevin’s letter appears each week in print and online in the St. Boniface Martyr Parish Bulletin.

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