Master the Bible: How to Get and Keep the Big Picture of the Bible's Story

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Mas ter the B i b l e : How to Get and Keep the B i g P i c ture of the B i b l e ’ s Stor y

The Church Year, continued

c. Good Friday : The Friday before Easter which commemorates the crucifixion of Christ (John 18-19).

d. Easter Sunday : The Sunday which celebrates the resurrection of Christ (John 20).

8. Ascension Day : Celebrates the Ascension of Christ to heaven at which time God “seated him at his right hand in the heavenly realms, far above all rule and authority, power and dominion, and every title that can be given, not only in the present age but also in the one to come” (Eph. 1.20b-21; 1 Pet. 3.22; Luke 24.17-53).

9. Pentecost : The day which commemorates the coming of the Holy Spirit to the Church. Jesus is now present with all his people .

10. Trinity Sunday : Falls on the first Sunday after Pentecost. At Pentecost Jesus is declared to be both Messiah and Lord (Acts 2.36) and of course that is the day of the coming of the Holy Spirit. The Church has always been committed to a Triune understanding of God and this allows Christians to worship and ponder that mystery . 11. Ordinary Time 3 : In the Old Testament, the theme is simply God’s saving event. During this time the Church considers the overarching theme of salvation history, Christian discipleship, and advance of the Kingdom. It is a time of harvest .

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3 “The word ‘ordinary’ in Ordinary Time doesn’t mean ordinary in the usual sense. Remember ‘ordinal’ numbers – first, second, third? That’s what ‘ordinary’ refers to here. The numbered Sundays of the year outside of the special seasons. Yet ordinary time does seem rather ordinary, it doesn’t bring any strong images to mind the way the other seasons do. In fact, the Sundays of Ordinary Time don’t all fall during the same time of the year. To understand Ordinary Time, we need to understand the Church Year as a whole. We need to remember the essential meaning of all the other seasons and then think about the rhythms of time” (Dan Connors, The Liturgical Year . Mystic, CT: Twenty-Third Publications, 2005, p. 39).