Just having completed the 50 days of Easter with the beautiful Pentecost liturgy, I was anticipating my usual “let down” that comes with the sudden appearance of Ordinary Time. The feeling is like falling from something or somewhere with one big thud. This year as I pondered the Church liturgies in the month of June, I was happily reminded that the month is very rich with liturgies that can either avoid or have a happy lift from my anticipated thud.
Since my early childhood, I have loved the devotion to the Sacred Heart to whom the month of June is dedicated. My great-grandmother, who died before I was born, had a deep devotion to the Sacred Heart. She left behind a two-foot statue of the Sacred Heart that was “stored” in my bedroom. I was also told that Grandma distributed Sacred Heart League leaflets throughout the neighborhood each month of the year. How often I felt close to the Jesus represented by that statue and poured out my heart to him. How grateful I am for the gift of devotion to the Sacred Heart and likely even the seeds of my vocation handed down by a deceased grandmother!
On the first Sunday after Pentecost, we celebrate Trinity Sunday, and the following Sunday we celebrate Corpus Christi. We celebrate the Feast of the Sacred Heart on Friday, June 23. This month we also celebrate the feasts of John the Baptist and the feasts of the apostles Peter and Paul. Thirteen saints, five of whom were martyrs are also commemorated. So like the lush green growth around us, the first month of Ordinary Time presents us with a plethora of feasts to bathe us in hope, the presence of our Triune God, and examples of others who followed in the footsteps of our Lord.
Sr. Victoria Eisenman, OSB
