If you’ve ever driven in a new city without GPS, you’ll know the feeling of being lost before you’ve even left the parking lot. The streets all look the same, the signs are confusing, and you soon discover that “Maple Street” appears in at least three different neighbourhoods. Then comes the inevitable U-turn, and perhaps a whispered prayer that no one you know is watching you circle the block for the third time.
The Christian life can sometimes feel like that too. Without some sort of guide, the days blur together, and it’s easy to forget that God’s story is unfolding right in the midst of our own. This is where the church calendar comes in—not as a quaint relic or an old-fashioned add-on, but as something like a spiritual GPS.
Advent quietly recalculates us when we’ve gone astray, reminding us that hope is not wishful thinking but a promise rooted in Christ. Christmas, of course, is the great announcement that God has shown up—in person—whether we were ready or not. Lent is that polite but firm voice that tells us: “At the next opportunity, make a U-turn.” Easter, glorious Easter, is the declaration that the destination has been reached, even as the journey continues. And then there’s Pentecost, the reminder that the GPS isn’t just external—it’s God’s Spirit dwelling in us, guiding us even when the road is rough.
Even so-called “Ordinary Time” isn’t just filler, any more than the backroads between towns are meaningless. It’s in the green, steady weeks that we learn to live the faith in the ordinary rhythms of work, rest, family, and community. Ordinary Time teaches us that holiness isn’t confined to feast days, but can be found in Tuesday mornings and grocery store checkouts.
The church calendar doesn’t eliminate every wrong turn, nor does it prevent us from occasionally taking the scenic route when we didn’t mean to. But it does give us a sense of direction, reminding us where we’ve been, where we are, and where God is leading us.
So perhaps the next time you hear the collect for the week or see the liturgical colour change on the altar frontal, think of it as your divine GPS quietly saying: “Continue straight. God is with you.”
Prayer
Gracious God,
You guide our steps through the seasons of life and faith.
In Advent, you teach us to wait;
in Christmas, you teach us to wonder;
in Lent, you teach us to repent;
in Easter, you teach us to rejoice;
and in Ordinary Time, you teach us to live faithfully day by day.
Keep us walking in your way,
until at last we reach our journey’s end in your eternal presence.
Through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.