Fifth Sunday of Ordinary Time
Here in New Zealand / Aotearoa we have just celebrated Waitangi Day a time of reflection on the Treaty and what it means for us all here as New Zealanders. Let us pray that we will grow more deeply in being united in our diversity and that we grow into who we are called to be by imitating the lived reality of Jesus, together united in Christ.
This Sunday is the 5th Sunday of Ordinary Time. In a lot of ways “Ordinary Time” is a confusing title. When we use the title “ordinary” we may think of dull or routine. The reality is that “ordinary” just indicates the listing of ordinal, or sequential, numbers. This is what is meant by the Second Sunday in Ordinary Time, the Third Sunday in Ordinary Time, etc. The Church uses the term Ordinary Time to the order of Sundays in the church year that do not fall into the major liturgical seasons of Advent, Christmas, Lent, or Easter.
Now this may be all very interesting (or not!) but the primary focus of the liturgical year of the church is about growing in relationship with Jesus Christ. The gift of Ordinary Time is the opportunity to know Christ more intimately in the everyday realities of life.
The gospel readings proclaimed on these Sundays reveal the teaching, healing and mission of Christ, helping us better understand God, who became human. We learn that Christ is about humility rather than pride, vulnerability rather than power. We learn that Christ is about including the excluded and dismantling structures of sin and injustice. We learn that Christ is about self-giving love that is only possible through authentic relationship. This is the Good News of Christ that we embrace this Waitangi weekend and at all times.
God Bless you
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From the Vicar
