The Liturgical Year

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The Liturgical Year
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A. Living as Timely

• A. Living as Timely
• 1. People experience time in both positive and
  negative terms. The four senses of time are and
  their meaning
• A. Time as burden means bored, not an
  opportunity.
• B. Time as pressure means never enough time
  always feeling behind.
• C. Time as suspended means having a sense of the
  eternal totally involved in something one wants
  to be doing.
• D. Time as seasonal means being aware of comings
  and goings of life.

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A. Living as Timely (cont)

• 2. In Scripture, the Book of Ecclesiastes
  teaches the wisdom of lifes seasons and
  encourages people to be patient and remember that
  time is a gift.

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A. Living as Timely (cont)

• 3. Roots of Christian Feasts
• Ancient cultures had spring festivals to
  celebrate new life.
• The spring festival was the basis for the
  Passover which recalls the new life given to the
  Israelites in the Exodus. The Christian
  celebration of Easter occurs at about the same
  time in spring that Jews today have the Passover.
• Christmas comes at the darkest time of the year
  in the Northern Hemisphere for Christians it
  celebrates the birth of Jesus as the Light coming
  into the world, which echoes the pre-Christian
  festivals of light.

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B. The Liturgical Year

• 1. Gods time is both eternal and timeless. In
  the church, we mark time by the
• liturgical year which begins on the first Sunday
  of Advent. In the liturgical year Christians
  walk through twelve months of seasons and feasts
  that recall different aspects of Jesus life,
  death, and Resurrection.
• The liturgical year is meant to transform us
  because we are to remain open to Gods grace and
  be transformed at the deepest levels of our
  beings heart, head, body, soul and spirit we
  grow in Gods grace to be the person we are meant
  to be.

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B. Liturgical Year (cont)

• 2. The structure of the church year has two
  major seasons
• a. Easter Season which begins on Easter Sunday
  and ends on Feast of Pentecost. Its period of
  preparation is known as Lent.
• b. Christmas Season which begins on Christmas
  Day and ends on Baptism of the Lord. Its period
  of preparation is known as Advent.

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B. Liturgical Year (cont)

• 3. Between the two major seasons are two periods
  of time called Ordinary Time. In this time
  period, the focus of the liturgical celebrations
  each week are the various aspects of Jesus life
  and teachings.
• 4. To make people aware of the differences in
  the seasons, each season has its own color for
  the vestments and the environment in the church.
  The book of readings called the lectionary has
  the scriptural readings which are rotated every
  three years .

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B. Liturgical Year (cont)

• 5. The heart of the liturgical year is Easter
  because it focuses most intensely on the Paschal
  Mystery (life, death and resurrection of Jesus
  both past and present reality.)
• Every Sunday is considered a little Easter.

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C. Advent

• 1. The word Advent means to come. Thus, the
  liturgical season reflects on
• a. the coming of Jesus in the past, meaning his
  birth in Bethlehem, and we must prepare to
  celebrate his birth
• b. the coming of Jesus in the present, meaning
  Jesus coming into our world today into our own
  life, in whatever way Jesus will make an
  appearance in the people we encounter, in our
  joys, and in our struggles that we try to work
  through.
• c. the coming of Jesus in the future meaning at
  the end of time to bring Gods Reign over all the
  world.

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C. Advent (cont)

• 2. The custom of the Advent Wreath focuses on the
  theme of Light coming into darkness. This custom
  has four candles which are either purple and pink
  or violet blue and white. Normally the color of
  vestment worn by the priest during Advent is
  purple or violet blue.

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C. Advent (cont)

• 3. The season of Advent lasts for four weeks.
  Advent ends with the celebration of Christmas on
  December 25th. At this feast, there is the
  popular custom of having the Nativity scene or
  crèche set up in churches as well as in peoples
  homes.
• According to legend, Saint Francis of Assisi is
  credited with creating the Nativity scene since
  the peasants could not read and thus learn the
  Christmas story. In the Nativity scene, one
  finds Mary, Joseph, Jesus, shepherd and animals.
  Usually the Nativity scene or crèche is left up
  until the feast of Epiphany (January 6) when the
  three wise men are added to the Nativity scene.
  Christmastime lasts until the feast of the
  Baptism of the Lord.

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C. Advent (cont)

• 4. To reenact the journey of Mary and Joseph to
  Bethlehem, the Advent custom of Los Posadas is
  practiced in the Hispanic culture. This custom
  reminds us that the strangers in our life who
  seek welcome and hospitality could just as well
  be the Holy Family seeking shelter and comfort
  from us.
• When we welcome the stranger, we welcome Jesus
  into our life.

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D. Ordinary Time

• 1. It is divided into two periods.
• 2. One is between Christmastime and Lent. The
  other is between Eastertime and Advent.
• 3. Ordinary time covers about 60 percent of the
  year.

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E. Colors of the Liturgical Year

• Advent violet blue
• Christmas Season white
• Season of Ordinary Time green
• Lent deep purple
• Palm Sunday red
• Holy Thursday white
• Good Friday red
• Easter Season white
• Pentecost red
• Feasts of Mary white
• All Saints' Day white
• Christ the King white