"Roll out those lazy, hazy, crazy days of summer…" These hit lyrics, introduced by Nat King Cole in 1963, are not the definition of our summer liturgical experience. While we may not experience the rituals and festivities of the other seasons, Ordinary Time II offers us "the wisdom of routine", as Joan Chittister, OSB, calls the chapter on this season in her book entitled The Liturgical Year: The Spiraling Adventure of the Spiritual Life. In this chapter, Sr. Joan writes that "[i]t is what we do routinely, not what we do rarely, that delineates the character of a person” (page 183). Ordinary Time provides us with the opportunity to extend the messages of the seasons of Advent, Christmas, Lent and Easter into our regular, daily life; we have the time to work out what being a Catholic Christian, a follower of Jesus, really means. This isn’t lazy, hazy or crazy at all! It’s hard work, and we can approach it knowing that we have the Holy Spirit, whose coming to us we celebrated on the feast of Pentecost, to guide and support us.
We continue our reading from the gospel of Luke throughout most of the summer; the Solemnities of the Most Holy Trinity and Sts. Peter and Paul (June 15 and 29 respectively) are exceptions to this practice. Some of the gospels are ones which are immediately recognizable; examples are the parable of the good Samaritan (July 13), Jesus’ promise "ask, and you shall receive…", (July 27), and Jesus’ statement "for everyone who exalts himself will be humbled…" (August 31). In a non-gospel reading on August 10, we will hear reassuring, yet challenging words from the Letter to the Hebrews: "faith is the realization of what is hoped for and evidence of things not seen" (Hebrews 11:1-2). You can prepare for our Sunday readings each week at https://liturgy.slu.edu/.
The church provides us with models of holiness, as it celebrates the saints who have gone before us in faith. Some of the saints which we remember this summer include the apostles Thomas (July 3) and James (July 25); several founders of religious orders: Benedict--Benedictines (July 11), Ignatius of Loyola—Jesuits (July 31), Alphonsus of Ligouri—Redemptorists (August 1), Dominic—the Dominicans (August 8), and Clare—the Poor Clares (August 11); family members such as Anne and Joachim—Jesus’ maternal grandparents (July 26) and Monica and Augustine—mother and son (August 27 and 28); and Mary Magdalene—the apostle to the apostles (July 22). You can go to https://www.franciscanmedia.org/saint-of-the-day/ for more information about these saints.
We celebrate three Marian feasts during Ordinary Time this summer. June 9 is the Memorial of Mary, Mother of the Church. On August 15 we have the Solemnity of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary, a holy day of obligation. We remember the Queenship of the Blessed Virgin Mary on August 22. Mary is the patroness of our parish and a powerful intercessor with her son, Jesus. Lumen Gentium, the document from the Second Vatican Council on the Church, reminds us that Mary is a "daughter of Adam" (human) and, by her "divine consent" (Yes) to God, became the mother of Jesus, our only Mediator (56). We are also told that Mary, "preserved free from all guilt of original sin, on the completion of her earthly sojourn, was taken up body and soul into heavenly glory, and exalted by the Lord as Queen of the universe, that she might be the more fully conformed to her Son, the Lord of lords and the conqueror of sin and death" (59).
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