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A while back, I came across the "Little Book" for Lent, a booklet with daily prayers and reflections. In talking to a friend, he mentioned there were ones for other seasons, including Advent, Christmas and Easter.

"Easter!" I exclaimed. "Who prays after Easter? By the time Lent and Holy Week are over, I'm done praying for a while."

The seasons or periods of the Church year demarcate our calendar and usefully impinge on our secular lives. We automatically experience winter, spring, summer and fall.

But as Catholics, we are always in a holy time. (In one of J.F. Powers' trenchant Catholic novels, a character reveals his too-zealous nature by naming his publishing house "Eight Seasons.")

Most years, Lent follows too soon upon the Epiphany. We face the fast though a wreath still adorns the front door and Christmas lights on our hedge blink under the snow.

Easter always happens on the Sunday following the full moon after the vernal equinox (got that?), which is late this year. Lent starts March 9, so we float now in a long lacuna of ordinary time. Let it throw you off your routine, and remember whose hand really sets our clock and calendar.

(02/10/11)[[In-content Ad]]

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