Ordinary Time Resources

The name “Ordinary Time” comes from the word “ordinal” as in ordinal numbers (e.g. “first, second, etc.”) because each Sunday is counted after Pentecost. Ordinary time is not “mundane” time, though it can feel that way because it is the season of routine. We have been filled with the Holy Spirit and released into the world, to live to the Lord.
Ordinary Time, then, is about learning to see how the resurrection infuses every day, transforming ordinary time into peculiar time.

The Lectionary readings for the season of Ordinary Time follow a few different themes.

  • The Old Testament readings will follow the first family of God: Abraham and the patriarchs that follow him through Moses.
  • The New Testament readings follow the theologically rich Pauline letters of Romans and Philippians, before ending the year in 1 Thessalonians.
  • The Gospel readings follow Jesus’ ministry from Matthew 9 to Matthew 25.

Resources:

Below is a list of resources that may prove helpful for you in the season of Ordinary Time.

Travel Companion:

Every season we produce a “Travel Companion” to help you journey through the season. You can find our Ordinary Time Travel Companion here.

Bible Reading

With 188 days of Ordinary Time, a small daily commitment to read the Bible will allow you to make big headway in reading the Bible. Consider making a Bible Reading Commitment throughout Ordinary Time to grow in knowledge and transformation. Some ideas:

Follow the Lectionary Daily Readings

The Revised Common Lectionary has a list of daily readings. Each Day consists of a Psalm, an Old Testament Reading, and a New Testament reading. One great thing about the Daily Readings is that if you miss a day, you don’t have to remember where to pick up. You simply read “today’s text.”

Commit to Reading a Chapter or Two a Day

If you are looking for something smaller, or more focused you can commit to reading a section of the Bible. Consider reading one chapter every week day and two on Saturday. You would be able to read 188 chapters of the Bible! That’s three quarters of the New Testament! You can adjust that as you see fit. For example, if you wanted to read all of the New Testament in Ordinary Time, reading just one and a half chapters a day would get you there!

Read the Psalms

The Psalms are the words of the daily. If there is any book of the Bible that deserves to be ingested in the season of Ordinary Time, it is the Psalms. Consider a reading practice for the Psalms. You can read one Psalm every day and finish by the end. If you feel up to it, you can read 5 Psalms every day and read the whole Psalter every month. A few years ago, I made this bookmark that may be helpful for you.

Books

Ordinary Time: The Season of Growth by Amy Wheeler

This book is an overview of the season, written by a professor at Wheaton. It serves as a helpful introduction to this season, and uses the stories of the Patriarchs in Genesis (which are the Year A readings) to serve as a launching point for the inhabiting of this time.

Purchase it through IVP here.

Liturgy of the Ordinary: Sacred Practices in Everyday Life by Tish Harrison Warren

Tish Harrison Warren’s book here reimagines things that we all deal with like brushing our teeth, traffic, and cooking through the lens of liturgy–a way to learn to worship God. This could be a valuable way to see God at work in the “mundane” seasons of life.

Purchase it through Amazon, here.

The Way of the Heart: Connecting with God through Prayer, Wisdom, and Silence by Henri Nouwen

In this concise (really, it’s not even 100 pages long) book, Nouwen explores three practices from the Desert Fathers used to draw near to God, and hear His instruction. This book is a great entry point into the spiritual practices of silence, solitude, and prayer. If you want to grow in these disciplines, Nouwen will be an excellent guide.

Purchase it through Amazon, here.

Spiritual Disciplines Handbook by Adelle Calhoun

There are so many spiritual disciplines that it can be hard to know where to start. In this collection, Adelle Calhoun explores over 70 disciplines, through the larger lenses of worship, opening one’s self to God, relinquishing the false self, sharing life with others, hearing God’s word, the incarnate love of Christ, and prayer.
If you are looking to grow in the disciplines, and want a concise but complete discussion of the disciplines, this is a great place to start.

Purchase it through Amazon, here.

The Sabbath by Abraham Joshua Heschel

Abraham Heschel was an excellent Jewish scholar, and his work on the Old Testament and Jewish faith is always excellent. Here, Heschel explores the Sabbath through the lens of Jewish spirituality, though it will undoubtedly give you wisdom for your observance of Sabbath.

In this brief yet profound meditation on the meaning of the Seventh Day, Heschel introduced the idea of an “architecture of holiness” that appears not in space but in time Judaism, he argues, is a religion of time: it finds meaning not in space and the material things that fill it but in time and the eternity that imbues it, so that “the Sabbaths are our great cathedrals.”

Purchase it through Amazon, here.