The Jeff Cavins Show (Your Catholic Bible Study Podcast) - The Liturgical Year: Conforming Your Life to Christ

Episode Date: December 1, 2017

Each and every day of the believer’s life should be lived with an understanding that God keeps a calendar. By following his calendar, we won't waste time and energy during the course of our life, because the calendar will keep us focused on God's will rather than our own. This week, Jeff Cavins discusses how the liturgical year helps us anchor our lives in God's life.

You're listening to the Jeff Kaven Show, the liturgical year conforming your life to Christ. Hey, I'm Jeff Kavans. How do you simplify your life? How do you study the Bible? All the way from motorcycle trips to raising kids, we're going to talk about the faith and life in general. It's the Jeff Kaven Show. Welcome to the show this week, my friend. Good to have you.

And happy New Year to you. What do I mean by that? If you're listening to this broadcast in real time, you know that it's actually towards the end of the year. We haven't really hit the new year yet. But in terms of the church calendar and the liturgical year, we just finished up the year with the Feast of Christ, the King, and we are ready to start a brand new calendar year,

and that is going to start with Advent. And that's what I'm going to be talking to you about this week, is something that, frankly, for a lot of people, kind of seems boring, but when you really look at it, it's really quite exciting because the liturgical calendar literally follows the life of Christ. And I want to talk about that. And also a way for you to look at this new year as a way for you to not just go through the liturgical year, but to conform your life to Jesus. And you get an opportunity to do that every single day. But in order to do that well, you have to understand how the liturgical year is actually put together.

And that's what the purpose of this show is all about. I promise you, it's not going to be dry. And liturgy is not dry. The liturgical year is not dry. Although I have to say growing up, I didn't pay much attention to it at all. And I really didn't know the logic of it, which I imagine was your case. You know, when you were growing up as well. and so looking forward to it.

By the way, I do appreciate all of your letters. If you want to get a hold of me, my email is simply the Jeff Kaven Show at ascensionpress.com. And you can share the show. If you're listening to this on iTunes, you can share it with your friends. If you're listening to it on Ascension Presents,

you can also get it on iTunes. And if you do listen on iTunes, I appreciate you ranking the show, leaving some feedback, because that actually helps in the the algorithm of the show as far as letting more people know about the great gifts that we have in the Catholic Church. Well, the year has ended with Christ the King. It is the end of our year and we're going to begin a brand new calendar year now, kind of like going to the store,

you know? Right before New Year's, January 1st, a lot of people will go to stores like bookstores or an office store and they'll get a brand new calendar and get ready to tackle the new year. And in a way, that's what we are in the process of doing this week. If you are listening at another time, then this still is going to apply to you, but this happens to be the beginning of our new year, beginning with Advent. By way of just kind of introduction to the liturgical year, looking at it from kind of a biblical perspective, when a person becomes a Christian. They're incorporated into the life of the Trinity and can participate in the grace of God literally on a day-by-day basis, which makes the liturgical year so exciting.

Now, deeply lodged within the heart of every believer is the hope of what we call as Catholics the beatific vision, which is to one day enjoy God face-to-face for eternity in heaven. Now, with the beatific vision as our goal, all of life on earth must be carefully, purposely lived life aimed at perfect conformity to Jesus Christ. And that's why we need a calendar. We need to keep God's calendar, so to speak. If you try to go about your own calendar with no structure at all, just hoping you remembered things, chances are you wouldn't remember much, you'd get in trouble, and you'd have to go out and buy a planner. Well, the church has done that for you, so to speak, with a liturgical year. Life in Christ is not primarily a singular relationship with God, a very important thing for us to understand,

but it's a community experience where we are immersed in a way of life. Now, the Catholic Church is more than a community. It's a family. It's a family in which we learn and we live and we celebrate Christ together. Now, the church, inner wisdom, has orchestrated this way of life every day, every week, every month, and every year, in such a way that the faithful will be more perfectly formed to Jesus Christ. In short, the liturgical year of the Catholic Church conforms your life to the life of Christ so that you can better realize and experience the saving work of Jesus, our Lord.

Now, the life of Jesus is broken down into seasons and days so that the Christian can live out their life, death, and resurrection of Christ. It could be said that the life of Jesus is mapped out in the liturgical year, and as the faithful enter the rhythm of the church, they enter into the rhythm of the life of the Trinity. So, utilizing the calendar as a means of relating to the saving actions of God, it's not a new invention. We didn't come up with this as Catholics. You know, it's not our invention. All right, that's an important point to get. All throughout the Hebrew scriptures, the people of God entered into feasts and special holy days

as a way to remember the great works of God and to conform their lives to His will. So we see that in the Old Testament, time was a very important theme in the Bible, and it was intended to be sanctified. You might remember what Paul said in Ephesians 5, 15 through 17. He said, be careful how you walk, not as unwise men, but as wise, making the most of your time because the days are evil.

So then do not be foolish, but understand what the will of the Lord is. Now, each and every day of the believer's life, that's your life, that's my life, it should be lived with an understanding that, God keeps a calendar. God keeps a calendar. And by following his calendar, we will not waste time and energy during the course of our life because the calendar will help keep us focused on his will rather than our own. That is key in what I'm trying to communicate today. From the beginning of salvation history to the end, we see that God is a God of order. And by following his lead, order will be brought to our lives.

Isn't that what you want? Man, that's what I want. I want to simplify my life. I want order to be brought to my life, and the liturgical year does that. Now, as you look into the Bible, you'll see the Feasts of Israel in the Old Testament. And frankly, many Christians don't realize

that the seven feasts, which God commanded in Leviticus 23, are still observed by our Jewish brothers and sisters. The feasts, as given to Israel, have a multifaceted significance. First, there was the seasonal aspect of each holiday, involving agricultural activities in the land. And then the feasts were to be a memorial of God's dealings with the people of Israel. And finally, there may be prophetic symbolism in these feasts,

which there certainly is, as it points to Jesus. And so many Christians see parallels in God's dealings with Israel and God's dealings with the church today. Now, a study of the feasts of Israel will not only bring a greater understanding of the Jewish roots of our faith, it will teach the Christian much about God's plan of redemption throughout the ages. And so, Leviticus 23 lists these seven feasts in order of their seasonal observance. You've got Passover, unleavened bread, first fruits, Pentecost, Feast of Trumpets, Day of Atonement, and Booths, or Tabernacle. Now, the liturgical calendar has a theme.

We're about to begin Advent, and from Advent all the way back around to Christ the King, there is a theme. It begins with Advent, it concludes with the Feast of Christ, the King, but from the beginning of the year to the end of the year, the focus is upon the life of Christ but even more specifically, it's upon his kingdom. And that is key to understanding the liturgical year that it's really focused on the king and his kingdom. So there's a logic to the liturgical calendar. There's a certain logic that emphasizes the life of Jesus

and the various important events act as a guide in discovering other important events in the life of Christ. For example, the Annunciation falls nine months prior to the birth of Jesus, the Annunciation. That's when the Blessed Virgin Mary became pregnant with Christ. Well, there's a logic there. If you go to the Feast of the Annunciation, well, go five months prior. You'll get the, you'll get the, or five months later, you get the birth of Christ. And then not only is there a logic to the liturgical calendar, but each segment of time,

is special. You've got days, you've got weeks, you've got Sundays, you've got the year. Like it, for example, in days, each day in the liturgical year is a microcosm of life. Every single day is a microcosm of life as we have the opportunity to sanctify time every day. Each day is made holy through the liturgical celebrations and becomes the stage on which we demonstrate our trust in God and practice good stewardship. So every day is like a lifetime. It's a microcosm of life. And the liturgical day runs from midnight to midnight. That's how the liturgical day is typically observed, midnight to midnight. But the observance of Sunday and solemnities begins with the evening of the preceding day. The evening in the evening, like sundown. Now, Sundays also play a major role in the liturgical year. year. The church celebrates the pascal mystery on the first day of the week. That's Sunday. It's known as the Lord's Day. And this follows a tradition handed down from the apostles and having its origin

from the day of Christ's resurrection. And so Sunday must be ranked as the first holy day of all in the calendar. Every Sunday is a holy day because of the resurrection of Jesus, which his sacrifice, his death, burial, resurrection is a completion and fulfillment of all of the sacrifices in the Old Testament. Now, the writer of Hebrews said it this way. In Hebrews 10, 23 through 25, he said, let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for he who promised is faithful,

and let us consider how to stimulate one another to love and good deeds, get this, not forsaking our own assembling together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another and all the more as you see the day drawing near. Now the catechism says something about Sundays too. It says in paragraph 2180, on Sundays and other holy days of obligation, the faithful are bound to participate in the Mass. The precept of participating in the Mass is satisfied by assistance at a Mass

which is celebrated anywhere in a Catholic right, either on the Holy Day or in the evening of the preceding day, which for us would be Saturday evening. Now, switching to a slightly different topic when we talk about the liturgical year, we get a chance in the liturgical year to soak in God's word. And this is the genius of the liturgical year,

to be frank with you. It's the genius of the liturgical year. It's the Sunday lectionary. It's a guide to the liturgical readings. It's a three-year cycle of three-year cycle of three readings. Now, this is brilliant because you're not going to get this

at other places so much. Other liturgical churches like Methodist Church, Lutheran Church, they do have a liturgical cycle. But many of your independent churches or Baptist churches or evangelical free, so to speak, they don't have a liturgical plan.

Oftentimes the readings and the sermon is left to whatever the pastor is interested at that time or whatever the church deems important at that particular time. Not so in the Catholic Church. We're bound to this liturgical cycle. The first reading usually comes from the Old Testament and parallels the theme of the gospel reading of the day.

The second reading is usually from the epistles or the book of Revelation. Now, the gospel readings are arranged in such a way that they match the life of Christ to the season celebrated. There are three cycles used to gain the most comprehensive, comprehensive look at the life of Christ. And we call those cycle A, cycle B, cycle C. Cycle A focuses on Matthew. By the way, this is all in the footnotes. Not the footnotes, but the show notes, okay? Because I know I'm giving you a lot of really cool stuff here, and you don't want to write it down when you're driving. So all this is going to be in the show

notes for you. So don't worry. You're going to get it. But cycle A focuses on the gospel of Matthew. Cycle B focuses on the Gospel of Mark, and then Cycle Cicle Cic. is Luke. Now the Gospel of John, you say, what about that? Well, that's used in all three cycles, especially during cycle A in Lent, during Matthew in Lent. And the lectionary is so extensive that over a three-year cycle, get this, nearly the entire New Testament, and most significant portions of the Old Testament are covered. You're not going to get that kind of a diet anywhere. You're not going to get that comprehensive of coverage anywhere. Let me give you an example of what I'm talking about. During Advent, our focus is upon the coming of the king. That's what

at the time of this broadcast, this show, that's what we're about to enter into. During Advent, our focus is upon the coming of the king and the church will point us toward readings such as Isaiah's Messianic texts. In Lent, the scriptural readings are devoted to the subject of sin, repentance, reconciliation. At Christmas and Easter, those passages, well, they're related to to these major events as well. In addition to the Bible, the bravery, which is the prayers of the church, follows the church calendar as well.

I'll tell you what, the church is pretty smart. You know, a lot smarter than I am. Now, throughout this calendar, what we're going to visit over the next year is we're going to have special days called solemnities, feasts, and memorials. And I'm going to talk about those, and then I'm going to quickly walk you

through the liturgical calendar the whole year so we get kind of a feel for it but we're going to do that right after this break don't go away and come on back because we're going to we're going to talk about the solemnities feasts and memorials we'll be right back hi this is father meg schmitz and if you're looking for a way to learn more about your catholic faith i invite you to check out the ascension presents youtube channel you're going to find tons of free videos featuring catholic presenters like matt frad leodero jackie poppy angel and emily wilson Go to YouTube.com slash ascension presents.

That's YouTube.com slash ascension presents. And if you like what you see, please share and subscribe. Okay, welcome back. As I promised, before the break, we're going to talk about the solemnities, feasts, and memorials.

In other words, along the liturgical calendar, there's going to be some big days. There's going to be some big happenings that the church has deemed so important that we need to make a whole day and say, hey, this is going to be. to be our focus, right? It's kind of like in your marriage. If you're married, well, what are the days that you focus on throughout the year? Well, you might focus on your

birthdays, your wife's birthday, your birthday, your family's, the kids' birthdays. You'll focus certainly on memorials of the passing of loved ones and you will also celebrate your anniversary. Every year you do it. Why? Big event in your life. Same with the church. So as the church celebrates the mystery of Christ in the yearly cycle, the church also venerates with a particular love, Mary, the mother of God, and sets before the devotion of the faithful the memory of the martyrs and other saints. The saints of universal significance have celebrations that are obligatory throughout the entire church. And I always use that word obligatory. Jeff, give me a break. It's obligatory. Listen, it's obligatory because you need

it, you know? It's like me saying to my wife, is it obligatory that every year we celebrate our anniversary? Well, yeah. Why? Because it's such a big event that we want to celebrate it. Saints are great role models, as they have been successful in serving the king and continue to pray for our success. Other saints are left to the veneration of particular regions or religious families like St. Dominic, the Dominicans really, you know, venerate that, that wonderful saint. So there's solemnities, there's feasts, there's memorials, but then there's days of obligation. Oh, we got that word again. Obligation, devotion. What are we obligated to? You're obligated. to the big, big events.

What are they? Well, the church has determined that these days are so important that they have deemed them days of obligation. And on these special days, Christians, they're obligated to what, to do what? To attend Mass and enter into the mystery of Christ. And here's some of the days of obligation. You've got January 1st is the Feast of Mary, the Mother of God.

you've got Easter, you've got the ascension, you have August 15th, the Assumption of Mary, you've got November 1st, the Feast of All Saints, and you have December 8th, the Immaculate Conception. Now, those are the days of obligation. Let's look at the liturgical seasons for a minute, shall we? And let's kind of go through this, and I'm not going to get into the weeds here. We're going to just kind of fly over this with the time that we have, because I want you to sense the feel of it, especially those of you that are listening right now that we just finished Feast of Christ the King. We're about to enter into Advent, which is New Year's Day for us. That's our New Year's celebration is Advent.

And the very first of the liturgical seasons is Advent. Now, remember that every part of the year has something to do with Jesus in his kingdom. So Advent is what? It's the time that we prepare for the coming of the king. Color, violet. Advent is a time of two-fold preparation. It's a season to prepare for Christmas, which marks the first coming of Christ, and as a season when the heart and mind prepare for the second coming of Christ at the end of time.

So the church begins Advent with the evening prayer of the Sunday following on or closest to November 30th, and before evening prayer of Christmas. The Sundays of, and that's when it goes to it, but it ends before the evening prayer of Christmas. The Sunday of this season is named the first, second, third, and fourth Sundays of Advent. So once we are through with the preparation for the coming of the king, Advent, we hit Christmas. What do we do at Christmas? Well, we celebrate the birth of the king. Color white.

Next to the yearly celebration of the paschal mystery. of Easter. The church holds most sacred the memorial of Christ's birth. This is amazing. The Christmas season runs from evening prayer of Christmas until the Sunday after Epiphany or after January 6th. Christmas marks the incarnation when God became a man and for the first time God walks among us as one of us. Amazing. It's amazing. Now the Epiphany is the last Sunday of the Christmas octave. And this commemorates the visit of the wise men. Now, once we're done with Christmas, we've gone from Advent to Christmas, we're going to go into ordinary time. Ordinary time. Let me say something about ordinary time here. The color is green, and what

we're going to be looking at in ordinary time is we're going to learn the teachings of the king and the work of building the kingdom. Now, when we talk about ordinary time, we're not just saying, well, it's just ordinary time. It's not really special. Not at all. The word ordinary really, really points to this idea of ordered. Ordered. These are ordered days. Our life is ordered by something, and it's by these days in the teachings of Christ. So 33 or 34 weeks remain in the yearly cycle that does not celebrate a specific aspect of the mystery of Christ. rather, especially on the Sundays, they are devoted to the mystery of Christ in all of its aspects and we look at the mystery of Christ. Ordinary time begins on Monday after the Sunday

following January 6th and continues until Tuesday before Ash Wednesday. It begins again on Monday after Pentecost and ends before evening prayer of the first Sunday of Advent. Again, again, all this is in the show notes for you okay then we hit after the first period of ordinary time we've gone through it through what advent christmas right advent christmas ordinary time so we celebrated the coming of the king we look forward to it we celebrate the birth of the king ordinary time we learn the teachings of the king and then we hit lent and we prepare for the most important action of the king the death burial and resurrection. Color, violet.

Now, Lent is a preparation for the celebration of Easter, and Lent runs from Ash Wednesday until the Mass of the Lord's Supper. Okay. Now, the word, during this time, maybe you remember this, the word Alleluia is not used. From the beginning of Lent until the Easter vigil. On Ash Wednesday, ashes are distributed reminding the faithful that it was from dust they came and dust they will return.

And then the sixth Sunday of Lent remarks the beginning of Holy Week, and it's called Palm Sunday. And the Triduum is a part of the liturgical calendar. Lent leads up to the Tritium, which is these celebrations of the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus. We enter into the what? The final week of the king's life. Color, white, and red.

Now, the culmination of the liturgical year is the Easter trituum of the Passion and Resurrection of Christ. It's not the end of the calendar, but it's the culmination of the calendar. Easter is to the liturgical year, get this, Easter is to the liturgical year what the Sunday is to the week. The zenith of celebration. This holy week, the trituum, is marked by five sons. special days. You've got Palm Sunday, where Jesus enters into Jerusalem at the same time, the sacrificial flock for the Passover enters Jerusalem, color red.

Holy Thursday. Holy Thursday, the bishop blesses the oils and consecrates the chrism. And the oil will be used on those who will be receiving the sacrament of confirmation during the Easter Vigil. You've got Good Friday, and it marks the betrayal and the arrest of the Lord in the Garden of Gitsemone. We venerate the cross of Christ.

And then you've got the Easter Vigil the day before Sunday, and the vigil is called the Mother of All Vigils, and it's celebrated on the Saturday night preceding Easter Sunday, and the church keeps watch eagerly awaiting the resurrection. of the Lord. And then Easter Sunday, we enter into the resurrection life of the king. Isn't this great? The colors white, Easter Sunday, the celebration of the resurrection of the king, and the 50 days from Easter Sunday to Pentecost are celebrated, get this in the church calendar,

as one great Sunday. One great Sunday. And the readings for those of those of the church, 50 days after Easter, the liturgical readings during that period are called the mystogogy. Misticogi, they are aimed at educating the new believers who came into the church, educating them in the mystery of Christ. These days correspond to the 40 days after the resurrection when Jesus taught his disciples very important truths of the kingdom, those 40 days. The first eight days of the Easter season make up the octave of Easter. and on the 40th day, after Easter, the ascension is celebrated, and the weekdays after the ascension until the Saturday before Pentecost

are a preparation for the coming of the Holy Spirit. Pentecost, 50, celebrates the coming of the Holy Spirit. Wow. Wow. Amazing. It's absolutely amazing. And then we move on to another ordinary time, and we end with, Christ the king, the culmination of the liturgical calendar. Now, to conclude some of our thoughts here, because my goal today in the show was just to lay out the calendar for you and to let you know, hey, it's so important for us to follow the life of Christ. But we've got to be present.

We have to be purposeful about it. We've got to think about it. Throughout the year, we cannot go to Mass week after week after week, just kind of, you know, dazed and not paying attention. Now this also brings up another important point, and that is this. The role of the parish liturgist is very, very important to the life of the parish. Why? Well, while they work behind the scenes, they quietly guide the parish community through the life of Christ. Take some time to thank your parish liturgist. If you're a parish liturgist, thank you. They are the ones who are working hard at keeping God's calendar for you. And our responsibility is to respond with a humble heart. And when you get asked to change the colors in the church and they need some hands,

you know you're part of the calendar at that point. Now, let me give you as a conclusion here. The top 10 reasons to follow the liturgical calendar. Top 10 reasons, okay? Drum roll please. Number one, An opportunity to cultivate conversion in your life. Number two, an opportunity to cultivate communion. Number three, an opportunity to cultivate solidarity with one another. Number four, top ten reasons why we should follow the liturgical calendar, an opportunity to conform family life to the life of Christ. In number five, opportunity to be influenced by the great,

saints in the family of God. Number six, keep that drum roll, opportunity to face issues in your life that you may not face if left to your own calendar. And number seven, an opportunity to prepare for heaven. Number eight, God knows what you need when you need it. He knows what you need when you need it and those readings are going to come up. And number nine, God's calendar brings order to our lives. And number 10, big drum roll, top 10 reasons why we should follow the liturgical calendar. Missing appointments with God is just downright rude. All right, there you go, the top 10 reasons why we should follow the liturgical calendar. And I might even change the title of this show to that top 10 reasons why we should follow the liturgical calendar well happy new year my friend

and begin advent with your eyes wide open your heart open and follow the life of christ throughout the liturgical year and more importantly conform your life to the life of christ again i'm going to pray in a moment but go to iTunes and rank the show and leave me some notes if you want to write me questions or you have got ideas for shows. My email is the Jeffkhaven show at ascensionpress.com. Let's pray in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit. Lord Jesus, we thank you today for giving us your calendar where we can conform our lives to your life. What an honor it is to walk with you. What a gift we have been given by you in the church to follow you. May we be faithful

not only to the calendar and to going to Mass and celebrating the feasts and the solemnities and memorials and all the wonderful things and the days of obligation. But may we be faithful to walk as you walk. May we be faithful to walk in your kingdom. We pray this in Jesus' name. Amen.

Name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit. My friend, you have to walk in your kingdom. have a fantastic week and a fantastic year. Happy New Year.