Friday of the Seventeenth Week in Ordinary Time

Today's Mass Readings

Checking Our Calendars
We Catholics have a liturgical calendar. We have days of celebration called memorials, feasts, and solemnities on which we remember a saint, a sacred event, or an aspect of our faith. We also have seasons of particular themes that encourage penance or jubilance, and special rites within a single liturgy for specific occasions (matrimony, ordination, burial, etc.).

The ancient Israelites had their own liturgical calendar. Theirs was described in the books of the law, which includes Leviticus. Today’s first reading highlights the most important feasts in their calendar: Passover, the Feast of Unleavened Bread, the Feast of Firstfruits, Pentecost, the Day of Atonement, and the Feast of Booths. We are familiar with some of these names because our Catholic calendar has its roots in the Jewish calendar.

Calendars contain a people’s tradition and tell of what they value. It helps form their identities and unifies them as a nation. Even in the secular realm, the United States has its own calendar of celebrations and remembrance days: think of Independence Day, Veterans Day, and the most recent addition of Juneteenth.

One basic feast or observance for the ancient Israelites was the Sabbath, which occurred once every week. To keep the Sabbath is even one of the Ten Commandments, the most important for the people to observe. The Jewish Sabbath is akin to our Christian Sunday. Both emphasize remembrance of what God has done for us (be it Creation or Resurrection), which should lead us to worship, and from that worship, we rest from all our work.

Recently, our local bishop, the Most Reverend James V. Johnston, Jr., has written to us on the importance of celebrating the Lord’s Day, Sunday, and on how we might observe it well. He writes, “Sunday is about resting from work and resting in God. It is about tending to our relationships. It is also about planning and engaging in works of mercy and charity on occasion. But most things do not ever happen unless we are truly intentional about them.” (Pastoral Letter, 31 May 2020) We should be intentional in what we place on our calendars.

Reflection:
What do you celebrate and thereby value? What is on your calendar? It’s Friday. How will you celebrate the Lord’s Day this Sunday?

Reflection by Br. Luke Kral, OSB