Students have returned to school and we are getting back into the “academic year” rhythm of things. The Church continues its celebration of Ordinary Time, reminding us more and more about how we are to live as followers of Christ. For instance, in the gospel on the 22nd Sunday of Ordinary Time (September 3), Jesus tells us that "[w]hoever wishes to come after me must deny himself, take up his cross, and follow me.” Challenging words, for sure, but ones which are spoken by someone who knows about denial, suffering and death, someone who has “walked the walk and talked the talk”. These are words which also come with a guarantee from Jesus himself that he will always be with us. You can prepare for all of the Sunday readings at liturgy.slu.edu.

Church Ordinary Time, which begins anew after the feast of Pentecost and runs until the beginning of Advent (this year, Sunday, December 3), is a time for us to settle into learning what it means to know and follow Jesus. (Note: the first round of Ordinary Time was between the end of the Christmas Season and the beginning of Lent.) We read from the gospel of Matthew this year and hear parables, stories of miracles and Jesus’ words about what it means to be his disciple. We also celebrate a couple of wonderful feasts that help us to know more about Jesus. At bible.usccb.org, the US Bishops post all of the daily readings.  You can prepare for the Sunday readings at liturgy.slu.edu, a website maintained by St. Louis University.

Alleluia! Jesus is alive!! After spending a number of Lenten weeks walking with Jesus toward his passion and death, and commemorating the events of Palm Sunday, Holy Thursday and Good Friday, we rejoice at Easter, celebrating Jesus’ resurrection. The Gloria and Alleluias return to our worship and we are invited to share in the joy of Jesus’ new life. Imagine how the apostles felt and acted after Jesus was falsely executed as a criminal and then mysteriously, and triumphantly, rose from the dead. They must have been confused and fearful, wondering what would happen to them. However, the Scriptures tell us that they were emboldened to tell the Good News of Jesus’ life and teaching when they received the gift of Jesus’ Spirit, the sending of which we remember on Pentecost.

The liturgical season of Lent has long been associated with the preparation of catechumens (people preparing to become Christians) for the reception of the Sacraments of Initiation—Baptism, Confirmation, and Eucharist—at the celebration of the Easter Vigil. Lent also provides those of us who are already initiated into the Church with the opportunity to ready ourselves to deepen our commitment to our God and to each other, through the renewal of our own baptismal vows. On the Third, Fourth, and Fifth Sundays of Lent this year, we hear gospel stories which have been deliberately chosen for the catechumens. Each of these stories is from the Gospel of John; they are the story of Jesus’ encounter with the Samaritan woman at the well (March 12), his healing of the man born blind (March 19) as well as his raising of Lazarus to life (March 26). We, along with the catechumens, learn from these stories that Jesus is the living water, the light of the world and the resurrection and the life. What a great opportunity to understand more about who Jesus is in our own lives, and in the life of the Church!

We are now between the liturgical seasons of Christmas and Lent, celebrating the season of Ordinary Time. (The Christmas season ended on January 9 with the Baptism of the Lord, and Lent begins on Ash Wednesday, February 22.) The season of Ordinary Time gets its name from the fact that the Sundays are numbered (ordinal); the name does not imply that the season is “run-of-the-mill” or just plain and “blah”. These few weeks, and the weeks of Ordinary Time that return after the Easter Season is complete, give us the opportunity to learn about discipleship and experience Jesus’ life and teachings.

The month of November is dedicated to the memory of those who have died. It is a time for us to hold fast to the belief that when a faithful person dies, “life has changed, not ended” (Roman Missal, Preface for the Dead). Here is a 2017 article by Clare Coffey (bit.ly/CoffeyNovember) that reminds us that “[t]o mourn as a Christian is to hold both the fullness of loss and the promise of restoration at once.”  You can listen to Marty Haugen’s rendering of Psalm 23, Shepherd Me, O God at bit.ly/HaugenShepherd. Psalm 23 is a psalm of comfort for many people in the face of suffering and death.