Today we celebrate the return of Ordinary Time in the Church. The Christmas season ended yesterday with the Feast of the Baptism of the Lord and our ordinary days seem to begin again. The Church calls it “Ordinary Time” from the word “ordinal” or counted, but in this part of the world the days are cold and dark, the holidays are over – and our lives feel very ordinary.
Today’s gospel offers us a glimpse of the lives the first apostles, Simon Peter, Andrew, James and John. We see these fishermen at work, casting and mending their nets – the usual work of those who live by the sea. Into this ordinary work day comes Jesus, walking along the shore of the Sea of Galilee, calling them, offering to change their lives.
Jesus makes the same call to us today - on what might seem to be a very ordinary day in our lives. If we can bring our world into silence for just a few minutes and listen with our hearts, we hear Jesus say directly to each one of us, “Come and follow me.” It is a call to follow Jesus in a new way, a deeper way. Jesus invites us to put down the nets of our lives filled with clutter of things that distract us, anger us, make us feel jealous or insecure; distractions that keep us too busy to have a heart to heart conversation with him. And if we drop our nets and simply decide to listen and follow him today, it will be anything but ordinary.
Jesus, help me to open my heart and find the silence in my day today to listen to your voice calling me. Let me hear how much you love me and what you dream for me and ask of me today. Let me feel your love.
Maureen McCann Waldron
The most important part of my life is my family – Jim my husband of 47 years and our two children. Our daughter Katy, a banker here in Omaha, and her husband John, have three wonderful children: Charlotte, Daniel and Elizabeth Grace. Our son Jack and his wife, Ellie, have added to our joy with their sons, Peter and Joseph.
I think family life is an incredible way to find God, even in (or maybe I should say, especially in) the most frustrating or mundane moments.
I am a native of the East Coast after graduating in 1971 from Archbishop John Carroll High School in suburban Philadelphia. I graduated from Creighton University in 1975 with a degree in Journalism and spent most of the next 20 years in corporate public relations in Omaha. I returned to Creighton in the 1990s and completed a master’s degree in Christian Spirituality in 1998.
As our children were growing up, my favorite times were always family dinners at home when the four of us would talk about our days. But now that our kids are gone from home, my husband and I have rediscovered how nice it is to have a quiet dinner together. I also have a special place in my heart for family vacations when the kids were little and four of us were away from home together. It’s a joy to be with my growing family.
Writing a Daily Reflection is always a graced moment, because only with God’s help could I ever write one. I know my own life is hectic, disjointed and imperfect and I know most of us have lives like that. I usually write from that point of view and I always seem to find some sentence, some word in the readings that speaks right to me, in all of my imperfection. I hope that whatever I write is in some way supportive of others.
It’s an incredibly humbling experience to hear from someone who was touched by something I wrote. Whether the note is from someone across campus or across the world, it makes me realize how connected we are all in our longing to grow closer to God.
