Ordinary Time

Step #1: Lectio / Read

Click the link below or open your Bible to the passage and read through the reading at least once, paying attention to what is happening in the text.

MARK 1:14-2

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Step #2: Meditatio / Meditate

Use the following meditation to help you reflect more deeply on the Scripture (you may want to read the passage again).

Today marks the first day in ordinary time, the first Monday of the 1st week of ordinary time. Ordinary time is the liturgical season between the central moments of the Christian year – Christmas and Easter – with their preceding seasons of preparation, Advent and Lent. With the excitement of the Christmas season quickly fading, and the Lenten and Easter seasons months away, ordinary time is upon us in our communal prayer and spiritual lives.

We must avoid a danger however with the word ordinary. Ordinary can sometimes be used to mean average, uncommon, bland, or boring. As a result, ordinary time can be seen as something to be overlooked, or unimportant in one’s spiritual life. But notice in today’s Gospel, it was precisely in and through these common fisherman’s ordinary lives, that Jesus came and called them, and they began their transformation into disciples and then Apostles. God entered into the ordinary time of their lives and offered them something extraordinary – a life lived in union with Him.

If we take a step back and look at Jesus’ life as a whole – and it is this life that our liturgical calendar is oriented around – we find that the greatest number of Jesus years lived on earth were lived in ordinary time, or in the hiddenness and routine of daily life. Much of Jesus’ own life was remarkedly ordinary, and perhaps there is a lesson for us and our own spiritual lives in this. Much of our personal lives, and spiritual journey, will take place in ordinary time: in the hallways at school, in the home with family, at the workplace with our colleagues, in our daily hobbies, joys, annoyances, and sufferings. Our personal ordinary time is where God will be most likely to come and meet us, to come and walk with us, to come and call us. Our ordinary life is what we are called to sanctify as Christians, like Christ did. It is in our ordinary life that we really grow in holiness, and in relationship with Christ and others. In fact, there is nothing ordinary anymore about our daily life in light of Christ’s Incarnation, His entrances into our world has changed everything for the Christian; each moment, each day, each joy or struggle, provide another opportunity for us to join in Christ’s mission of redemption, sanctification, and love. Today, pray with the Gospel around the reality that Christ came to the Apostles in their daily, ordinary lives, and reflect on how God is coming to you in your ordinary life offering an extraordinary relationship.

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Step #3: Oratio / Pray

These questions are to be used to talk to God; have a conversation with the Lord about these questions and what is going on in your heart as you pray today.

What blessings did you receive during the Christmas season? 

During this ordinary time how can you offer the mundane up to the Lord? 

Where is Jesus meeting you in the ordinary? 

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Step #4: Contemplatio / Contemplate

In this step, you listen. Stop talking, let God speak to your heart. You may repeat one of these short phrases to focus your mind on the Lord.

"Come to me in the ordinary."

"Help me follow you Lord."

​"Be with me in the ordinary."

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Step #5: Actio / Act

In light of today's reading and your time spent in prayer with the Lord, what concrete action or actions will you take to let this encounter with the Lord bear fruit in you today?

Today is an ordinary Monday. Where will you meet Jesus today? During the ordinary: brushing your teeth, walking the hallway, emptying the dishwasher, offer that moment up to Jesus. 

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Smartphone Lock Screen

The following image is here for you to save and use as a background or lock screen on your smartphone or device to help you carry today's Lectio Divina with you the rest of the day.

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Today’s prayer was prepared by Jon Polce, SJ.

If you have anything you'd like our team to pray for, please go to the page of our website called "Prayers" and let us know how we can pray for you today.