Liturgical Calendar

The Jubilee Year: Every 25 years, a Jubilee Year occurs within the Catholic Church. The tradition dates back to 1300 when Pope Boniface VIII instituted the first Jubilee Year. At that time, Jubilee Years were celebrated every 100 years. Eventually, the interval was shortened to every 25 years. This tradition allows Catholics worldwide to renew and strengthen their faith and relationship with Christ. The theme of this year's Jubilee is "Pilgrims of Hope," and began with the opening of the Holy Foor of St. Peter's Basilica on December 24, 2024, by Pope Francis.

The Christmas octave extends from Christmas Day to the Solemnity of Mary the Mother of God. Octaves are eight-day weeks unique to the celebrations of the Church. In Sacred Scripture, the number eight symbolizes salvation, resurrection, and rebirth; in Christian symbolism, eight days represent eternity. For example:

• God saved eight people in the ark during the Great Flood, including Noah, his wife, his three sons, and their wives (Genesis 7:13).
• On the 8^th day of an Israelite male child's birth, he entered into a covenant relationship with God through the ritual of circumcision and received his name (Genesis 17:10-12; Exodus 22:29-30; Leviticus 12:3; Luke 1:59-63; 2:21 ).
• On the eighth day of the desert Tabernacle's dedication, God lit the fire of the sacrificial altar during the morning liturgical service. The Feast of Tabernacles (Sukkoth) commemorated this miraculous event in an eight-day feast (Leviticus 23:36-39).
• There were eight classes of furniture in God's Jerusalem Temple (1 Kings Chapters 6-8).
• Eight days after the Resurrection (written as "eight days" in the Greek translation of the Gospel of John), Jesus appeared to His Apostles a second time; this appearance included St. Thomas, who was missing at His first visitation (John 20:26).
• Resurrection Sunday was the eighth day of the week, counting from Saturday and the first day of the New Covenant, signaling a new beginning in salvation history. It was when Jesus arose from the dead on the day after the seventh day, Old Covenant Sabbath (Matthew 28:1-28; Mark 16:1-8; Luke 24:1-8; John 20:1-10). It is the number of our salvation and the promised Second Coming of Jesus Christ.

However, the Christmas Season ends on the Feast of the Baptism of the Lord when we return to Ordinary Time in the Liturgical Calendar.

The Solemnity of Mary, Mother of God: This was the first liturgical feast dedicated to the Virgin Mary in the Western Church. In AD 431, the Council of Ephesus affirmed as dogma (a divine truth) that the Virgin Mary was indeed the Mother of God and not just the Mother of Jesus. Vatican II made this Marian dogma more explicit by proclaiming "that Christ should be recognized in the truest sense, as the Son of God and the Son of Man." Before adding this feast to the Roman Catholic calendar, the first day of the year commemorated the circumcision and naming of Jesus. It was an event that took place eight days after His birth (as the ancients counted with no zero-place value from Dec 25^th-Jan 1^st) as prescribed by Old Covenant Law (Gen 17:9-14; Lev 12:3; Lk 1:59; 2:21; CCC 437, 456, 484-86, 723-26).

The Solemnity of the Epiphany of the Lord: The Solemnity of the Epiphany celebrates the Gentile Magi, coming from the East (probably Arabia), to find the Christ-child and offer their gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh. The word "epiphany" is of Eastern origin and means "appearance," "revelation," and "manifestation." January the 6^th is the ancient date for celebrating the Feast of the Epiphany. However, in the United States and Canada, Epiphany is now observed on the first Sunday after January 1^st, the Solemnity of Mary, Mother of God. Epiphany continues to be celebrated on its official calendar day in Europe, Latin America, and many other Christian communities. According to the Fathers of the Church, the Feast of the Epiphany represents the call to salvation for all peoples, including pagans, as represented by the Gentile "Wise Men" from the East who came seeking the new-born King of the Jews (Matthew 2:1-12; CCC 528, 1171).

Feast of the Most Holy Name of Jesus: St. Paul wrote in his Letter to the Philippians that God the Father gave Jesus "the name that is above every name" (Philippians 2:9). The devotion to the Most Holy Name of Jesus became popular because of the efforts of 12^th-century Cistercian monks and nuns but primarily through the preaching of the Franciscan, Saint Bernadine of Siena in the 15^th-century. Bernadine and Dominican preachers initially used their devotion to the Holy Name of Jesus to overcome bitter rivalries and unite Christians in the Italian city-states. It spread even further after the Jesuits began promoting it in the early 16^th century. Finally, in 1530, Pope Clement V approved an Office of the Holy Name for the Franciscans, and in 1721, Pope Innocent XIII extended the feast to the Church worldwide.

Feast of the Baptism of the Lord: This feast marks the end of the Christmas season and the beginning of Ordinary Time the next day. The feast celebrates the baptism of Jesus by St. John the Baptist on the east bank of the Jordan River. That occasion was the first time in salvation history that the Holy Trinity revealed Himself. Jesus, God the Son, submitted Himself to St. John's Baptism in the presence of God the Holy Spirit, who descended upon Him in the form of a dove as God the Father's voice was heard from Heaven proclaiming His pleasure in God the Son (Mt 3:16-17; Mk 1:9-11; Lk 3:21-22; CCC 1223-28). In the 5^th century, Bishop Maximus of Turin wrote that we should celebrate this feast with the same joy we feel on Christmas Day: "At Jesus's birth, His mother Mary held her child close to her heart. So today, the Father holds his beloved Son for all people to adore. Jesus is baptized so all Christians may follow him with confidence." Jesus Christ shows us the way into the waters of Christian baptism, giving us the gift of rebirth as we pass from death to life, from children in the family of Adam to children in the family of God.

Ordinary Time: The seasons in the Church's liturgical calendar are 1. Advent, 2. Christmastime, 3. Lent, 4. the Paschal Triduum (lasting three days), and 5. Eastertime. There are also two blocks of "Ordinary Time." The first block of Ordinary Time is in winter in the weeks between Christmastime and Lent. The second block, in late spring-summer, falls in the weeks between Eastertime and Advent. The priests wear green vestments on most days of Ordinary Time in the Church's calendar. "Ordinary Time" is not a season. It is a way of marking the time between seasons. The word "ordinary" means "regular," but it also means "counted." Ordinal numbers are first, second, third, fourth, and so on, as the Church counts each week in Ordinary Time. We begin numbering the weeks of Ordinary Time on the day after the feast of the Baptism of the Lord. The Sunday after the Feast of the Baptism of the Lord is called the "Second Sunday in Ordinary Time" because it begins the second week in Ordinary Time. We count Sundays to keep track of the weeks and their assigned Scripture readings when we assemble for our liturgy of worship. The Church's most important feast during the winter weeks of Ordinary Time is The Presentation of the Lord on February the 2^nd. It is a turning point in the liturgical calendar where we look back to Christmas and forward to Lent and Easter. The 34^th week of Ordinary Time comes right before the beginning of Advent.

The Feast of the Conversion of St. Paul: On this day, we remember the conversion of St. Paul, Christ's apostle to the Gentiles. He was born a member of the tribe of Benjamin, given the Jewish name Saul, and considered himself a Pharisee (Rom 11:1, Phil 3:5). He was an officer of the Jewish Law Court (Sanhedrin) and a persecutor of the disciples of Jesus Christ. He was on the road to Damascus to arrest Christians when the Resurrected Jesus stopped him and demanded: "Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me?"  This encounter led him to understand that anyone who abuses the followers of Jesus is persecuting Christ Himself. He repented, was baptized, and became a fearless champion of Christianity. He accepted the mission Jesus gave him as an apostle to bring conversion to the Gentiles and adopted the Gentile name Paulus, Paul (Acts 9:1-12; 22:6-16; 26:12-18).

The Feast of the Word of God: Pope Francis established this feast with his Apostolic Letter Aperuit Illis on September the 30^th, 2019, writing, "Consequently, I hereby declare that the Third Sunday in Ordinary Time is to be devoted to the celebration, study, and dissemination of the word of God. This Sunday of the Word of God will thus be a fitting part of that time of the year when we are encouraged to strengthen our bonds with the Jewish people and pray for Christian unity. This is more than a temporal coincidence: the celebration of the Sunday of the Word of God has ecumenical value since the Scriptures point out, for those who listen, the path to authentic and firm unity." The decree's name, Aperuit Illis, comes from Luke 24:45 in Latin (tunc aperuit illis sensum ut intellegerent scriptura, which means, "Then opened-he them their sense to understanding Scripture"). On Resurrection Sunday, Jesus appeared to the Apostles and Emmaus disciples in the Upper Room, ate with them (Lk 24:46-43), and then "opened their minds to understand the Scriptures" (Lk 24:45), referring to how Jesus revealed that He fulfilled all the Old Testament Scripture prophecies. It was one of His first acts between His Resurrection and His Ascension forty days later.

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