The Glorious Green
By Fr. Matteo Invernizzi, F.S.C.B.
November, 2025
We now celebrate the 33rd week of Ordinary Time. It is the last week of the Liturgical Year, which ends with the glorious solemnity of Christ the King.
Recently, I had a conversation with two classes of fourth graders from our school. I was showing them the liturgical vestments that the priest wears during Mass. The children were particularly attracted by the brightness of the white one, for feasts and solemnities, and the red one, for Pentecost and the feasts of the martyrs. But no one paid much attention to the green one. It is the color of Ordinary Time, and the kids often see the priest wearing it. It is plain, like the grass in the spring, or the leaves during summertime. We take for granted their existence until, in the fall, they turn into a cloud of yellow and red dots, swept by the wind all over the sky.
But there is something precious about the plain, daily time. “Did you notice the number of weeks in the Ordinary Time?” I asked the fourth graders. “Five, eleven, twenty… thirty-three!” they finally answered. “And why is the number 33 important in the Bible?” I asked back. “Because those are the years of the life of Christ!” They answered with great excitement.
Once the kids made the connection with the life of Jesus, Ordinary Time ceased to be a dull and insignificant moment and immediately became a very interesting one. Jesus lived most of his life hidden in Nazareth, working humbly in Joseph’s shop. He spent long days traveling from city to city, cooking his own meals, and listening to and healing countless people who came to Him. He sanctified the ordinary time of human life, taking upon himself the same destiny. He showed us the meaning of Patience, the great virtue that leads us through our uneventful days.
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Catechesis of the Good Shepherd liturgical cycle calendar used in the Atrium at Nativity
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I have the impression that we live a life driven by excitement and entertainment. We wait for the release of the next new technology or for news that will change the course of our lives. So many people constantly check the news on their phones with this secret hope! And we forget that the seed of our true joy has already been planted in our lives when Jesus met us and, through Baptism, made us His. For us Catholics, hope is never simply something that will happen in the future, but the final revelation of the glory that has already been revealed in us through the love of Christ. We are His, says Saint Paul, but the world doesn’t know Him yet, and therefore doesn’t recognize us either. But when the glory of Christ is revealed, we will see Him as he is, and the world will see us too!
This is why I love Ordinary Time, the growing time, as the CGS (Catechesis of the Good Shepherd) song calls it. It appears to be an uneventful time, yet the life of Jesus grows within us, day by day, unnoticed. Like the seed of the parable, that grows in the night when the sower sleeps, and he knows not how it happened, but God does.
Entering the beautiful time of the winter festivities, do not forget the preciousness of the ordinary time. Renew your commitment to your daily duties, and find consolation in knowing that Jesus Himself learned love and patience in doing the same.
