Pentecost inaugurates the return to ordinary time. Here at the monastery we return to the weekly antiphons while chanting the Divine Office.

The Easter candle is put away in the sacristy to await a reappearance for the death of a Sister. The sanctuary is plainly beautiful and the Easter decorations are taken down. We also reclaim our tradition of two days without meat at our common table. These are all visible signs of our return to ordinary time.

Does this mean that the psalms are commonplace? That life itself has returned to the dullness that can reshape anything that is routine? I draw our attention to what Pentecost is all about – the coming of the Holy Spirit, a spirit of wisdom and courage. The Holy Spirit came and STAYS with us.

The challenge for us all is to find the uncommon in the ordinary, the sacred in the daily. Let us resist just marking time; instead let us make time by being alive in the Spirit. Let us embrace our uncommon gift to build a life worth living, worth celebrating, and, yes, worthy of God’s gift to us.

Leave a Reply

You must be logged in to post a comment.