Back to (Almost) Ordinary Time

Yesterday I received a cartoon on Facebook – which just showed a closed door and a man standing outside the door.  The voice came from inside the door saying, “I don’t want to go back to school!”  The man said, “But honey, you have to go, you’re the teacher!”

It is kind of a transition time – kids are back at school and vacations are over.  While technically we have a few days left in the Church’s calendar for Christmas time, but the Church begins to introduce other things.  Tomorrow is the feast of John Neumann, and today is the feast of Elizabeth Seton, born just two years before the Revolutionary War.

I didn’t do this, but if you Googled her, you might be able to come up with all sorts of different titles.  She was a socialite, she was a convert, she was a widow, she had five children, she was a grieving mother, she founded a religious community – did all sorts of things in her life.  Originally Episcopalian, she became a Catholic she said because of her belief in the true presence in the Eucharist, her devotion to Mary, and the continuity of the act of time of the Apostles.  She really did have a challenging time at the top and at other times the bottom.  But, “Mother Seton” as she was often referred to, was a terrific church person.  In our belief of the Communion of Saints, we believe that we are still connected with this great model of Christianity.

It is a time to find ourselves back in almost Ordinary Time, but with a devotion for her work.

Monsignor Daniel Hoye