After the joyous celebrations of the Christmas season, the Church has returned to Ordinary Time. Nativity scenes, family gatherings, and gift-giving all lead us to encounter Christ in the Christmas season.
When all of those traditions have passed for the year, it can take a few weeks to settle back into the normal routine of life. Our call to seek Christ does not change in any season of the Church liturgical year.
Encountering Christ in the ordinary
Now that we have returned to ordinary time, we need to ask ourselves how we encounter Christ in the ordinary aspects of our lives.
Jesus is indeed with us every day and in every moment, but he always honors our freedom and waits for our invitation and our welcome to encounter him in the ordinary.
“Seek the Lord and his strength, seek his presence continually!” (Psalm 105:4).
We are invited to seek and encounter the Lord in our ordinary day-to-day lives — in daily tasks, in quiet moments, in our families and friends. St. Josemaria Escriva, who frequently spoke of growing in holiness through ordinary life, said, “Either we learn to find God in ordinary, everyday life, or else we shall never find him.”
Daily rituals and routines can be a means of encountering God. Morning coffee while reading the daily Mass readings or another spiritual reflection.
A nightly examination of conscience allows us to reflect on God’s blessings and express our gratitude, as well as identifying when we did not seek the Lord during the day.
Small moments of prayer before meals or praying the Angelus at noon also bring us to encounter the Lord and remember his presence throughout the day.
Our relationships with others
Relationships are also a means of encountering God’s presence in our lives. Family life provides many tasks to be offered to the Lord and done out of love for who they will benefit.
Cooking meals, doing dishes, laundry, and cleaning the house all are opportunities to grow in love. St. Thomas More, a family man himself, said, “The ordinary acts we practice every day at home are of more importance to the soul than their simplicity might suggest.”
We also encounter Jesus in family relationships when you have an honest conversation with a spouse or you are able to give or receive forgiveness. Beyond family relationships, friendships are also an important way God shows his love for us.
Meeting a friend for coffee can provide just the right encouragement one of you needs at that time. “God sends us friends to be our firm support in the whirlpool of struggle. In the company of friends we will find strength to attain our sublime ideal” (St. Maximilian Kolbe).
Encountering Christ in suffering
Sufferings are also an invitation to encounter God. This could be some small inconvenience or something big and life-altering, such as a medical diagnosis. He uses moments of hardship to draw us closer to himself.
“For this momentary light affliction is producing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison” (2 Corinthians 4:17).
We are not alone in our suffering. Jesus suffers with us and has given eternal meaning to our human sufferings. Pope St. John Paul II had many insights into suffering, “Christ, through his own salvific suffering, is very much present in every human suffering, and can act from within that suffering by the powers of his Spirit of truth, his consoling Spirit.” It is up to us to open our experiences of suffering to be encounters with Jesus.
There are many more ordinary moments in our daily lives — time in the car, interactions with co-workers, or helping a neighbor. Moments of joy, laughter, and celebration are also opportunities to welcome Jesus’ presence, in gratitude for all the goodness he gives. “You will seek me and find me; when you seek me with all of your heart” (Jeremiah 29:13).
We can allow these experiences to be nothing more than just that: ordinary daily experiences or we can invite Jesus into these moments and look for his presence in ordinary life.
“Understand this well: there is something holy, something divine hidden in the most ordinary situations, and it is up to each one of you to discover it” (St. Josemaria Escriva).
Invite Jesus to be present in your ordinary moments. Seek him in the day-to-day tasks. Don’t let this Ordinary Time pass you by!
Sarah Pandl is a member of St. Christopher Parish in Verona. She works for The Evangelical Catholic and loves living in tune with the liturgical calendar of the Church.