To the Band of Brothers: January 11, 2021
Good morning!
Welcome back to Ordinary Time. I know it may not seem like it because there is nothing ordinary about the times we are living, but for the Church and its liturgical calendar, no matter the circumstances taking place in the secular world, it is ordinary time. It is time to put away white and break out green. It is time to take down the trees, wreaths, and lights, and put up… well, nothing really.
Green is a good color for ordinary time. I thought it would be a great idea to see if it happens to be the most common color in nature. According to Google, it’s not. The most common color in nature is usually yellow, orange, or red. Those colors are most common, especially among animals, because they eat plants and algae. So, I figure, since most plants and algae are green, then I can make the claim that green generates the most ordinary colors in the world that surrounds us. Of course, with all due respect to Google, when I stick my head out the window, what I see first is green.
When it comes to the Church, now that we take a bit of a break from all the partying of Christmas, Epiphany, and, yesterday, the Baptism of the Lord, we get a bit of a respite. It’s not very long though. In just six weeks we will be hitting Ash Wednesday and the season of Lent. You know, of course, what that means. We will have to put away the green and break out the purple. We will have to stock up on churrasco days at Belen because Fridays are meatless and we will have to look for things to give up and sacrifice for forty days.
For now, enjoy ordinary time, even though I find it religiously more challenging than special occasions like Advent and Lent. At least in those seasons we are on spiritual heightened alert. We are moving enthusiastically to the major feasts of Christmas and Easter. Ordinary time is more challenging because we are called to find God and keep our religious enthusiasm high in the more mundane and ordinary times. It’s easier to be in awe and moved to tears when the miraculous moments happen, but finding God just as present and real when nothing extraordinary is really going on is more difficult, it’s a greater challenge. It’s easy to go out and practice when you are in the middle of a season, but real athletes are the ones who are out there working out and practicing in the offseason.
So, don’t let your guard down, don’t be lazy. Jesus hasn’t gone anywhere. He is still as present in the Eucharist, at Mass, in confession, and in our chapel as he was during the extraordinary times of the liturgical year. The key is to be aware, to look for him, and to take the time. Jesus will continue to meet you in prayer. When you walk into the Chapel of the Immaculate Conception, conveniently placed just before you get to the dining hall, the little red candle next to the tabernacle is a clear sign that he is there waiting for you to pay him a visit.
Go in and say hello.
Auspice Maria
BELEN JESUIT PREPARATORY SCHOOL
500 SW 127th Avenue, Miami, FL 33184
phone: 305.223.8600 | fax: 305.227.2565 | email: communications@belenjesuit.org
500 SW 127th Avenue, Miami, FL 33184
phone: 305.223.8600 | fax: 305.227.2565 | email: communications@belenjesuit.org
Belen Jesuit Preparatory School was founded in 1854 in Havana, Cuba, by Queen Isabel II of Spain. The task of educating students was assigned to the priests and brothers of the Society of Jesus (the Jesuits), whose teaching tradition is synonymous with academic excellence and spiritual discipline. In 1961, the new political regime of Cuba confiscated the school's property and expelled the Jesuit faculty. The School was re-established in Miami the same year, and over the next decade, continued to grow. Today, Belen Jesuit is situated on a 34-acre site in western Dade County, just minutes away from downtown Miami.