Liturgical calendar guides us to Jesus Christ

Growing up, we followed traditions throughout the Catholic liturgical year which helped us live out our faith. I took these for granted as “normal.” I later learned that these traditions were unknown to many Catholics.

Upon realizing this, I set the liturgical year as a foundation for catechesis class and the results were astonishing. Parents and children were engaged in this active and fun Catholic life. We now use the liturgical year to form our own family traditions and hand on the faith to our children. Because of this, I created a calendar which lays out the liturgical year and encourages us to live the traditions associated with it.

Vatican II’s teaching on the Sacred Liturgy explains how the liturgical calendar helps us live out the liturgical year: “Holy Mother Church is conscious that she must celebrate the saving work of her divine Spouse by devoutly recalling it on certain days throughout the course of the year.”

A liturgical calendar is not a typical calendar, in that it forms a circle, a never-ending shape, which walks us through a cycle that is eternal. It is the shape of a wedding ring, calling to mind our “Divine Spouse.” It is the shape of the “Crown of Victory,” won by Christ through the saving mysteries it celebrates.

The time is not marked by months, but by Sundays. The largest outer square represents Sunday, the Lord’s Day. As we cycle through the weeks, we are continually drawn back to the day of the Lord’s victory over sin and death.

The mysteries made present throughout the year are represented by seasons and colors. The liturgical year begins on the First Sunday of Advent, a violet time of preparation, as we await the birth of the Lord. We cycle through the glory of Christmas and into Ordinary Time, the green growing time. The word “ordinal” means numbered; we number the Sundays as God’s message of salvation is laid out and we grow in knowledge of his son, Jesus Christ. Then, we plunge into the somber penance of Lent, which prepares for the “Feast of Feasts,” Easter. For fifty days, we revel in the Lord’s Resurrection. We continue growing through Ordinary Time, as we move toward the last things and await the Lord’s second coming.

We enter into the calendar by affixing a small crucifix to the day with sticky putty. In this way, my children concretely move through the seasons and come to understand the full cycle of the Church.

Feast days of the saints are laid out in the calendar and carry many traditions. Some feasts, like the Solemnity of St. Joseph, are major feasts and should be greatly celebrated in our parishes. Others may hold private importance and smaller traditions will develop in your home.

The essential point is why we celebrate these saving mysteries and what they hold for us. Throughout the liturgical year, the Church offers us a glimpse of the Lord’s power and glory. We enter into the moments which made our Salvation possible. They are made present, not just as a memory, but are real and alive for us today. Celebrating these feasts in our home helps us to enter into the Mass and gives us a focus for our daily lives.

The Church uses the liturgical year to guide us in our relationship with Jesus Christ. On our own, it is difficult to understand Christ’s mysteries. Even reading the Bible regularly can leave the events empty or in the past. Therefore, the Church gives us both spiritual and physical ways to experience God’s life and love at each moment of the year. These illuminate our lives with Christ’s light, allowing us to enter into his heavenly glory!