What is Ordinary Time in the liturgical year?
Ordinary time is the time on the church (liturgical) calendar that does not encompass the other seasons of the church year such as Advent and Lent. It is a time to focus on God's movement and rythmns in the ordinary seasons of our life.The Catholic liturgical year runs concurrently with the civil year. ("Liturgical year" means the annual cycles of feast and observances.) Actually, there are three cycles in the Catholic church. There is the three year cycle for Sunday Mass readings, the two year cycle for the weekday Mass readings, and the annual cycle of liturgical seasons and feast days.The liturgical seasons are Advent (the weeks leading up to Christmas), Christmastide (which continues through Epiphany), Lent (the weeks of preparation for Easter), the Easter season or Paschaltide (the weeks from Easter to Pentecost). These times are marked by special prayers and observances.The rest of the year is called Ordinary Time.These are the weeks from after Epiphany until Ash Wednesday (which begins Lent) and from after Pentecost until Advent. There are still feastdays and holidays during this time, but it is not considered a particular liturgical season.Ordinary Time refers to the time in the liturgical calendar when the Church is not in one of the special seasons of the year, such as Advent, Christmas, Lent or Easter.