The Season of Pentecost

The church year – also called the liturgical year – is a way of marking time and celebrating important days of the Christian faith. It is the same length (52 weeks) as our cultural 12-month calendar, and it can be further broken down into seasons, each of which have particular importance and meaning. Most of the seasons are relatively short: Advent (roughly 4 weeks), Christmas (12 days), Epiphany (anywhere from 4-9 weeks), Lent (40 days), and Easter (50 days). The Season of Pentecost, however, encompasses roughly half of the entire year. Technically, the season begins on the Monday after The Day of Pentecost and lasts until Advent. Depending on the date of Easter, the Season of Pentecost will encompass between 23 and 28 Sundays.

Some traditions refer to this long period as an indication of the number of weeks since Pentecost – the day the Holy Spirit emblazoned the church. (i.e. “Fourth Sunday After Pentecost” etc.) Others simply mark the Sundays as Ordinary Time. (i.e. “Fourth Sunday in Ordinary Time” etc.) Either is correct, and the two work interchangeably. The term ordinary here does not mean ‘normal, commonplace, or plain.’ Rather, it is short for ordinal number, meaning something’s position in a series, such as first, second, or third. It is simply a way of counting time.

The seasons in the first half of the year – Advent through Easter – mark important aspects of Christ’s life, such as the preparation of his coming (Advent), his birth (Christmas), his life and ministry (Epiphany), the preparation of Christ’s death (Lent), and his resurrection and eternal life (Easter). On the other hand, the Season of Pentecost marks important aspects of Christ’s teaching(s). The Gospel lessons appointed for these Sundays in the Season of Pentecost are full of the parables of Jesus.

So, here we are at the beginning (4^th Sunday of 25 this year) of this long season; indeed, it is the lengthiest season of the entire liturgical year, and the only season without any major festivals that are frequent in the earlier half of the year. The liturgical color of this season is green, symbolizing growth. This season invites us to pause, reflect, and think about how we can grow in our faith following the teachings of Christ. What work do have in front of us to make our lives more fully resemble the teachings of Christ?