Now in the middle of Ordinary Time, Easter feels like a distant memory and Advent is not yet on the horizon. Ordinary Time, however, is anything but ordinary. In addition to the feasts and memorials sprinkled throughout Ordinary Time in the liturgical calendar, if we pay attention to the readings we find the calling of the apostles, Jesus teaching his disciples.

In Jesus’ ministry people are gathering around him, starting to form the community which will later form the early Church and be called Christians. We can certainly see that because of this sense of community that is built over the ordinary times, the major events of Christ’s life, his nativity, death and resurrection, become so much sweeter. This community would eventually disperse and spread all to the whole world yet it would still remain connected in prayer and in the ordinary issues. The letters from the apostles which we hear now show us this.

As with everything in the Church this was not just an invitation that happened once two centuries ago, it is an invitation to each one of us right now.  We are invited to hear Jesus’ teachings to gather and build a community. We build these communities within our parish but also in the wider Christian community.

We hope that an element of your community is CARITAS. Rooted in our child sponsorship programs, inspired by Jesus command to love one another, we see evolving into Communities of CARITAS. Communities that are built through prayer, support, letter writing and occasionally those “feasts” of visiting either by Skype or even in person. Because of the community that we build through the ordinary time our own personal “feasts” are even sweeter.

Hannah Rafle is the Assistant to the Executive Director at CARITAS For Children. She is an active participant in her Catholic Young Adult Community and passionate about her faith.