Chapter One: Seasons of Love, Life, and Faith Goals: This chapter will explore the relationship of the liturgical seasons of the church year with the natural seasons. It will also explore the Paschal mystery of Jesus Christ and relate it to the universal pattern of life, death, and new life Objectives: Students will… Define the terms Advent, Christmas, Easter, Incarnation, Lent, Ordinary time, Pentecost, and Triduum. Examine major questions related to life, death, and our purpose on earth. Explain the meaning of the liturgical seasons of the church year and how each season remembers and celebrates the Paschal mystery of Jesus.

Overview of the Chapter The Christian mystery of faith is summed up in the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus. It is the liturgical and natural seasons that give us a deeper understanding of the Paschal mystery through various symbols, signs, and specific Scripture readings that connect our human experience with the divine experience. The liturgical cycle begins with: Advent - a time of preparation for the coming of Jesus. It opens with references to the second coming of Jesus at the end of time, which is the Parousia. Christmas – celebrates not only the birth of Jesus but many other feasts, such as Epiphany and the Baptism of the Lord. The infancy narratives, or Christmas stories, shed the light on the mystery of the Incarnation

Ordinary Time – the longest season of the liturgical year takes place at two different times of the year. The first part goes from after the Baptism of the Lord until Ash Wednesday. The second part resumes after Pentecost and continues until Advent . During this time, we learn the story of Jesus’ public ministry and what it means to be a disciple of Jesus. The Easter Triduum – is three most sacred days of the church year – Holy Thursday (the celebration of the Lord’s supper); Good Friday (the celebration of the Lord’s passion and death); and Holy Saturday or the Easter Vigil (when Christ’s resurrection is joyously celebrated.

The Easter season – celebrates the risen Jesus The Easter season – celebrates the risen Jesus. It lasts for fifty days, ending with the coming of the Holy Spirit on Pentecost. Note: throughout the liturgical year, various other feasts day are celebrated. Mary, the Mother of God, is honored. The apostles, martyrs, and saints who were examples of faith are remembered.

The Liturgical Cycle of the Church Advent Christmas Ordinary Time Lent Easter

ADVENT A word that means “something is coming” The liturgical cycle begins in a late November or early December with the first Sunday of Advent and proceeds for four Sundays leading up to Christmas. Advent is a time for preparation for both the first and the second coming of Jesus. The First Coming refers to the birth of Jesus, celebrated on December 25. The Second (or Final) Coming refers to Jesus’ return at the end of time, otherwise known as the Parousia.

Christmas It is one of the most popular and widely celebrated liturgical seasons of the Church’s year. Christmas begins with the Vigil Mass on December 24 and continues until the feast of the Baptism of the Lord This season is filled with special feasts, which include: Saint Stephen, the first martyr (December 26) Saint John, Apostle and Evangelist (December 27) Holy Innocents, Martyrs (December 28) Holy Family Sunday Mary, the Mother of God (January 1) Epiphany Baptism of the Lord

Infancy Narratives: Two Christmas Stories Matthew’s infancy narrative includes the visit of the Magi, or wise men, from the East, following the star to the city of Bethlehem and bearing gifts for Jesus. The Magi represents the entire world, acknowledging Jesus to be the Savior of the world. 2. Luke’s infancy narrative includes Jesus being born in a manger, because there was no room in the inn. The angels announce the birth to the shepherds, the poorest people in town. They were the first to hear the good news of the birth of the Savior, who is Messiah and Lord. The heart of the Christmas season is our belief that the child born to Mary in Bethlehem truly was the Son of God, fully divine and fully human. The word incarnation is the term used to name this miraculous union of a divine and a human nature in one person, Jesus.

Ordinary Time Focuses on the overall life of Jesus It is the longest season of the liturgical year. It takes place at two different times of the year. Beginning after Christmas season 9that is, the Sunday after the Baptism of the Lord), the first part of Ordinary Time goes until Ash Wednesday. The second longest part resumes on the day after Pentecost Sunday. It continues until Advent begins the liturgical cycle again Ordinary Time helps us recognize that something extraordinary is happening in the ordinary happenings of our own life. During this season the gospel readings at Sunday Mass follow in sequence the story of Jesus’ public ministry.

Lent Lent is the special season that begins on Ash Wednesday and ends with the Mass of the Lord’s Supper on Holy Thursday. The celebration of Lent begins with our receiving ashes with the words, “Turn away from sin and be faithful to the gospel” Ashes are a symbol of death and repentance. Having ashes placed on our foreheads for all to see reminds us to think about how we are living our life in Christ. During Lent we pray, fast, and share what we have with others, especially those in need.

The first Sunday of Lent, which is the Sunday after Ash Wednesday, always recounts the temptation of Jesus in the desert, when he was tempted three times by Satan. The temptations Jesus faced are three basic temptations every person faces: the temptation to seek PLEASURE, POWER, and POPULARITY in place of God. The meaning of the Lenten season is found in the name given to this period of time in the Rite of Christian Initiation of Adults: Period of Purification and Enlightenment. The climax of the season of Lent for the catechumens (those to be baptized) is their initiation celebrated in the three Sacraments of Initiation– Baptism, Confirmation, and the Eucharist.

Easter Triduum: the term means “three days Easter Triduum: the term means “three days.” The three special days of Holy Week that precede Easter. Holy Thursday: the celebration of the Evening Mass of the Lord’s Supper. The Church commemorates the night before Jesus died, when he had his last supper with his disciples. The breaking of the bread and sharing the cup of wine which he gave as his body and blood. They become for us the sign and symbol of the New Covenant, that Jesus established with his people. Jesus washed the feet of his disciples, giving us an example of humble service that we are meant to imitate. The liturgy of Holy Thursday celebrates: ** the mystery of the Eucharist ** the institution of the priesthood ** Jesus’ commandment of love

Good Friday The Church gathers and celebrates the liturgy of the celebration of the Lord’s Passion on Good Friday. The liturgy of Good Friday includes the Liturgy of the Word where the Passion according to John is read. We recall the suffering and death of Jesus through the terrible torture of crucifixion. He was charge as a criminal, found guilty though innocent, and executed by the death penalty of his day. A sign above his head mocked him as “the King of the Jews.” The Liturgy of the Word concludes with solemn prayers of intercession for the Church and the world, an invitation for all present to venerate the cross of Jesus, and the sharing in Holy Communion. It is because of the death of Jesus on Good Friday that every Friday is meant to be a day of fasting and prayer throughout the year, but especially during Lent.

Holy Saturday A quiet day of preparation and continued fasting and prayer as we keep vigil while Jesus lies in the tomb. The celebration of the Easter Vigil later that night begins Easter proper with its fifty days of feasting, after forty days of fasting. The celebration of Christ’s resurrection at the vigil service is the most solemn and most dramatic liturgy of the Church’s year.

At the beginning of the Easter Vigil, a fire is lighted in a darkened church. The Paschal candle is lighted from the fire and carried into tha church in procession, representing the Risen Christ, who brings light and life to the darkness of death. The salvation stories are read from numerous places in both the Old and New Testament. The renewal of the baptismal promises . New members of the Body of Christ are baptized, confirmed, and share in the Eucharist for the first time.

Easter Easter is a word that points to the direction of the east. It is in the east that the sun rises every morning, and it was on a Sunday morning that the women disciples found the tomb empty. The risen Jesus would later appear to his disciples and others over a period of forty days. Before ascending to his Father in heaven, he promised his disciples that he would be with them forever and commissioned them to “go”, therefore, and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit’ (Matthew 28:19). Because Jesus rose from the dead on the Sunday after his death and burial, Sunday has become known as the Lord’s Day. It is the principal day for the celebration of the Eucharist. Pentecost is the fiftieth—and final—day of the Easter season. This feast celebrates the descent of the Holy Spirit upon the disciples, filling them with the fire to preach God’s saving message of faith, hope, and love to the world.