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Good Shepherd Family Faith Formation Group
November 18, 2019
�The notion of time helps us celebrate life by marking, counting and recalling the important dates and events in our lives.
Ex: Birthdays, anniversaries ,
graduations, etc.
The Church developed the liturgical cycle to
help us preserve our identity as the people
of God.
The Liturgical Year (or Church calendar) helps us recall and celebrate the life, death and resurrection of Jesus.
Let’s take a look at the Liturgical Calendar
� The Liturgical year is a cycleof seasons repeating itself at
the end of each cycle.
� The Church also celebrates
Solemnities, Feasts, and
Memorials which may be on
any day of the week. These
days commemorate special
events or persons highly
revered by the Catholic
Church.
�There are five (or six)
specific seasons in the
Church’s calendar:� Advent
� Christmas
� Ordinary Time
� Lent
� (the Triduum)
� Easter
� Each season of the
liturgical year focuses on
an important aspect of
Christ’s life.
�Each season in the Liturgical calendar has a particulartheme.
�Each season has a particular liturgical color.
�Each season concentrates on different parts of the Bible.
�Each season has
different religious
practices, and symbols.
� WHITE
� Symbolizes: Light,
innocence, purity, joy,
triump, glory
� Easter
� Feasts of saints (who
were not martyrs)
� All Saints
� Feasts of the Apostles
� Nuptial Masses
� RED
� Symbolizes: Charity
� Palm Sunday of the
Lord’s Passion
� Good Friday
� Pentecost Sunday
� Celebrations of martyred
Saints
� VIOLET
� Symbolizes: royalty,
suffering, expectation,
purification or penance
� Advent
� Lent
� ROSE
� Symbolizes: Joy
� Advent – 3rd Sunday
(Gaudete)
� Lent – 4th Sunday
(Laetare)
� GREEN
� Symbolizes: Hope,
Growth
� Ordinary Time
� Color Changes
� Priest Vestments
� Altar Server Cinctures
� Art & Environment Banners
Decorations fitting to the
liturgical season – i.e.
Advent wreath, no bright
flowers during Lent; etc.
� Mass parts No Alleluia or Gloria during
Lent or Advent.
� Scripture
� Each new Liturgical
Year signals a change
in the Gospel
readings
�Sunday Gospel Readings
divided into 3-year
cycles: Year A – features Gospel of Matthew
(the year we will enter on Dec 1)
Year B – features Gospel of Mark
Year C – features Gospel of Luke (our
current year, ends Nov 24)
The Gospel of John is proclaimed on
particular Sundays throughout the
year.
� Weekdays in Ordinary Time are
divided into 2-year cycles:
� Year 1 is read in odd number years
� Year 2 in even number years
Season of Spiritual Preparation for
Christmas; comes from the Latin word
“Adventus” meaning “coming”.
Begins on the Sunday closest to the Feast
of St. Andrew the Apostle (Nov 30)
There are 4 Sundays of Advent, and the
last weeks is usually shortened depending
on when Christmas falls
Ends on December 24 at
sundown
We share in the long preparation for the
Savior’s first coming, and
We renew our desire for his second
coming, keeping in mind that we must be
ready to meet Him.
The color of Advent is Violet – the color of
penitence and fasting as well as the color
of royalty to welcome the Advent of the
King.
The Nativity, the Incarnation, cannot be
separated from the crucifixion.
Christmas is a SEASON, not just a day.
Begins with the Vigil Mass on Christmas Eve and concludes with the Feast of the Baptism of the Lord (Jan 12)
We celebrate the Incarnation – “the Word became flesh and dwelt among us.”
Reflection on the Nativity: Imagine yourself in the stable, and take it all in…..
Ask Mary if you can hold her child………….
How does that feel?
Continuing the celebration:
Dec 29 - The Feast of the Holy Family –
the first Sunday after Christmas
Jan 1 – Solemnity of Mary, Mother of God
Jan 5 - Epiphany – where the Magi visit
the new King;
Jan 12 – Feast of the Baptism of the Lord
Jan 19 – 2nd Sunday in Ordinary Time
The 12 Days of Christmas start on Christmas Day and last until the evening
of the 5th January - also known as Twelfth Night.
The 12 Days each traditionally celebrate a feast day for a saint and/or have
different celebrations:
Day 1 (25th December): Christmas Day - celebrating the Birth of Jesus
Day 2 (26th December also known as Boxing Day): St Stephen’s Day. He
was the first Christian martyr; also the day when the Christmas Carol
'Good King Wenceslas' takes place.
Day 3 (27th December): St John the Apostle
Day 4 (28th December): The Feast of the Holy Innocents - when people
remember the baby boys which King Herod killed when he was trying to
find and kill the Baby Jesus.
Day 5 (29th December): St Thomas Becket. He was Archbishop of
Canterbury in the 12th century and was murdered on 29th December
1170 for challenging the King’s authority over the Church.
Day 6 (30th December): St Egwin of Worcester.
Day 7 (31st December): New Year's Eve (known as Hogmanay in Scotland).
Pope Sylvester I is traditionally celebrated on this day.
Day 8 (1st January) Holy Day of Obligation - Mary, Mother of God
Day 9 (2nd January): St. Basil the Great and St. Gregory Nazianzen, two
important 4th century Christians.
Day 10 (3rd January): Feast of the Holy Name of Jesus. This remembers
when Jesus was officially 'named' in the Jewish Temple.
Day 11 (4th January): St. Elizabeth Ann Seton, the first American saint,
who lived in the 18th and 19th centuries.
Day 12 (5th January also known as Epiphany Eve): St. John Neumann who
was the first Bishop in America.
There’s nothing ‘Ordinary’ about Ordinary Time;
Ordinary Time is the part of the year in which Christ, the
Lamb of God, walks among us and transforms our lives;
It is a time of spiritual growth as we learn from the life and
teachings of Christ;
Ordinary comes from the Latin word “Ordinalis” which
refers to numbers in a series
In Ordinary Time the Sundays/Weeks are ordered or counted
(unless there is a special feast day)
Nov 17th was the 33rd Sunday in Ordinary Time
This Sunday, Nov 24, is the Feast of Christ the King
During Lent, our Catechumens (unbaptized) are preparing for their Baptism at Easter;
We, the Baptized, reflect on our Baptismal calling;
Two elements particularly characteristic of Lent:
Baptism (recalling of, or preparation for)
Penance
Three most important days of the
liturgical year-Mass of the Last Supper on Holy Thursday
Christ’s Passion on Good Friday
Easter Vigil during the night of Holy
Saturday; Easter Sunday Masses
�Holy Thursday
� Jesus instituted three pillars of our faith:
The Eucharist
The Priesthood – Jesus gives the apostles the power to
“do this in remembrance of me”;
Mass
� Adoration
Following the Holy Thursday Mass, Adoration of the
Blessed Sacrament continues until 5am, commemorating
the time Jesus spent in prayer in the Garden of
Gethsemane.
� Good Friday
We remember the Passion and death of Jesus;
The only day of the year when Mass is not celebrated –
we do have a Good Friday service;
We venerate the Cross honoring our Lord’s sacrifice;
The tabernacle is open and empty
� Holy Saturday
Jesus lies in the tomb – a day of quiet and reflection
We know the good news of Easter, but the people of
Jesus’ lifetime did not…………….
At the Easter Vigil we celebrate the Resurrection – our
catechumens and candidates enter the Church through
the Sacraments of Initiation: Baptism, Confirmation and
Holy Eucharist.
Also a SEASON, not a day
Begins with Easter Vigil/Sunday and ends on Pentecost Sunday (the 50 days from the
Resurrection through the sending of the Holy
Spirit)
� According to the Bible, Jesus Christ's death and
resurrection occurred around the time of the Jewish
Passover, which was celebrated on the first Full
Moon following the vernal equinox.
� At the end of the 2nd century, some churches celebrated
Easter on the day of the Passover, while others celebrated
it on the following Sunday.
� In 325 AD, the Council of Nicaea established that Easter
would be held on the first Sunday after the first Full Moon
occurring on or after the vernal equinox. (*the date for Ash
Wednesday is 40 days, excluding Sundays, prior to Easter.)
� In the Gregorian calendar, Easter falls on a Sunday
between March 22 and April 25
� USCCB Website – Catholic Current
� http://www.usccb.org/