This Overflowing 25th Sunday after Pentecost

You could just call this the 25th Sunday after Pentecost - in the traditional calendar of Holy Mother Church. (You know, the one we all followed before Wise Men of the 60s decided it was time for a change. That one.) But if we look closely, it sure seems like an "overflowing" Sunday.

First, there's a kind of overflow from the Feast of the Epiphany. You see, after the traditional calendar celebrated the of Christ the King on the last Sunday of October, there would always be a number of Sundays before the 1st Sunday of Advent - the beginning of the new Liturgical Year. To "fill" those Sundays, the Church celebrated Masses from the Sundays after Epiphany. So this Sunday, the Mass celebrated is that of the 6th Sunday after Epiphany.

Now I don't know why that particular Sunday after Epiphany (the 6th) is commandeered for this third Sunday after Christ the King, but there it is. (I'm sure there's some sort of logic here, but now's not the time to dive into such matters.)

So our Sunday now fills up with a Sunday from Epiphany. Let's spend a moment with this, starting with those Sundays after Epiphany.

In the newfangled calendar, Epiphany was moved from its traditional date of January 6th to a Sunday. And once it's celebrated, we're switched into "Ordinary Time" designations for Sundays. So Epiphany, once recalled for a number of Sundays after January 6th gets sort of boxed in and once that Sunday ends, you never hear about it again. Whereas the traditional calendar not only extends Epiphany through those initial Sundays, but brings back those celebrations in these days before Advent. So if you look at a traditional calendar, it says 25th Sunday after Pentecost (6th Sunday after Epiphany).

When the newfangled was was foisted on us, a Feast that once was kind of a big deal isn't so much anymore. Our tradition, though, boosted Epiphany with the Sundays after Epiphany and, now, these Sundays after Christ the King. Thus the boost.

Right off the bat, the 25th Sunday after Pentecost seems a bit richer or fuller than the newfangled "Thirty-third Sunday of Ordinary Time." Doesn't it? But wait...there's more.

Our traditional calendar also gives mention to St. Elizabeth of Hungary, as well as St. Pontianus ( pope and martyr). Now we're overflowing, eh?

Now, to be fair, St. Elizabeth isn't entirely aced out in the newfangled. Her feast was celebrated a couple of days ago, on the 17th of November. In the traditional calendar that day is given to St. Gregory Thaumaturgus. Oh, what's this, St. Gregory also gets November 17th in the newfangled? Then how come my newfangled calendar only mentions St. Elizabeth? As with the logic of how the Church figures out which Sundays after Epiphany are celebrated on the Sundays after Christ the King, I have no idea what's up with that. We'll let it go for now.

See what happens when you start fiddling with the calendar? At best, there's a degree of confusion. At worst, there were certain agendas in the newfangled that drove some of this fiddling. But, again, we'll let that go too. Meanwhile, we've gotten off track with our "overflowing theme." So back to that.

Compare the Thirty-third Sunday of Ordinary Time with 25th Sunday after Pentecost - (the Mass of) 6th Sunday after Epiphany  - St Elizabeth of Hungary - St Pontianus (who was a pope and a martyr). See why the 25th Sunday after Pentecost if overflowing?

Indeed, in the traditional calendar there are any number of Sundays where specific saints are designated as being celebrated, vs. the newfangled, where - with few exceptions - all those Sundays would be "just" Sundays.

Of course, on the surface, the logic would be, well, that puts Sunday always front and center. There's nothing to distract us from the importance of Sunday each week. But does the richness of certain Sundays in the traditional calendar really serve as a distraction to any of us? 

It would seem that the idea of paring down Sundays in the newfangled way just sits kind of flat, upon inspection, doesn't it?

Anyway, enough of the criticism of the newfangled. Let's just appreciate and enjoy our venerable traditional calendar in all its richness, as we note this "overflowing" 25th Sunday after Pentecost.

Happy Sunday!