Then Peter, filed with the Holy Spirit said to them: “Rulers and elders of the people! If we are being called to account today for an act of kindness shown to a cripple and are asked how he was healed, then know this, you are all the people of Israel: It is by the name of     Jesus Christ of Nazareth, whom you crucified but whom God raised from the dead, that this man stands before you healed….Salvation is found in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to men by which we must be saved.”  When they saw the courage of Peter and John and realized that they were unschooled, ordinary men, they were astonished…..                    

                      Acts: 48-10, 12-13a

      In the church calendar, the Season after Pentecost is known as Ordinary Time, beginning the day after Pentecost and ending the day before the first Sunday in Advent. But to me, just like the works done by the apostles Peter and John, there is nothing ordinary about it!

     After the coming of the Holy Spirit to the believers on Pentecost, Peter and John meet a crippled man when going to the temple for prayers.  They heal him and the man immediately begins praising God.  As the onlookers gather in amazement, Peter preaches that it is Jesus Christ, the long foretold Messiah, through whose power comes this healing. There is nothing ordinary about seeing a man who has never been able to stand on his own, get up to walk and dance!

     In Ordinary Time, we explore, as a church, the prophets of old, the teachings of Jesus Christ and the kingdom of God. We examine the radical teachings of Jesus to understand what Jesus considers the lifestyle of a true disciple. Again, there is nothing ordinary about a life transformed by the hearing and doing of the Word! As summer winds down, remember you too, have been gifted and called to live a life that is far from ordinary. On the contrary, the Christian life is extraordinary!

Leading the radical life with you,