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THERE IS NOTHING ORDINARY ABOUT BEING ORDINARY
A-r-r-r-ugh!! That is the expletive (not deleted for those of you who remember the transcripts of the famous Nixon Whitehouse tapes) most favored by Charlie Brown of the Peanuts comic strip. It usually came out in reaction to something done by his nemesis, Lucy, perhaps when the football was pulled away as he attempted to kick it, or when she offered outlandish psychological advice, or when she failed to understand his unreasonable hopes for the neighborhood baseball team. It came out whenever the frustration became too much for him. That is how I felt this week – the third one in May – as I tried to come up with something to write for the newsletter. Nothing came to mind; I could think of no special occasion in June to relate to; there just seemed to be nothing to say.
For months, since early December, we have been in the midst of the high religious seasons. We have observed the Incarnation at Christmas, the coming of Jesus to the Gentiles in Epiphany, the preparation for Jesus’ death and resurrection during Lent. And then for seven weeks we have lived in the celebration of Jesus’ victory over death and his promise to us of unending life. In May we had the twin events of Pentecost and our thanks for the gift of the Holy Spirit, and then Trinity Sunday. Now here we are in what the Church calls Ordinary Time. All of the big special seasonal celebrations are behind us. This year because of the exceptionally early date of Easter, we have the long time from now until Advent. There will be some Saint’s Days to take into account and in November All Saints’ Day, but we really have before us the long, “green” season. Hence my dilemma, what is there special to write about?
Then while at the Spring Clergy Conference, I heard The Very Reverend Brian Grantz, the new Dean of the Cathedral Church of St. James in South Bend, preach on one of the readings for the Feast of St. Dunstan on May 19th. Now, Dunstan is not a major saint, but the reading assigned for his day from the Book of Ecclesiasticus begins, “Let us now sing the praises of our ancestors in their generations.” (Ecclus. 44:1 NRSV) It goes on to talk of those who ruled over kingdoms, or were men of great valor, those who were intelligent and spoke prophetically, those who composed music or wrote verse and “those who have left behind a name, so that others declare their praise.” (Ecclus.44:8 NRSV) These words remind us of the Saints of the Church, those who are remembered by name and who have special days set aside for their honor. It perhaps brings to mind the original Apostles, or St. Paul, the Church Fathers, Francis of Assisi, and even those little known ones like Dunstan who have been honored through the ages.
What Father Grantz reminded us, though, is that the author of Ecclesiasticus goes on, “But of others there is no memory; they have perished as though they never existed; they have become as though they had never been born, they and their children after them. But these also were godly men…” (Ecclus. 44:9-10a, emphasis mine) Now we get to the ordinary, to people like you and me who will most likely never be remembered in a church devotional manual, or have our image in a stained glass window. Father Grantz encouraged those of us who heard him to remember that we too can make a contribution to the Kingdom of God, that if we are true to our baptismal vows and faithful to Our Lord Jesus Christ, we may have a small part in bringing about the Kingdom that many wait for, or in enhancing the Kingdom that many of us feel already began with Jesus’ life, death and resurrection for us.
If we dedicate ourselves to following Jesus, to trying our hardest to live as he lived, to loving others as he loves us; then even if our names are forgotten, even if no one recalls the things we accomplished, we will still have lived lives of great worth. There is nothing ordinary about that.
Fr. Ted+
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