---

The Advent season is the time of waiting and preparing for the coming of Jesus.
 

---

The Christmas season begins with the celebration of the birth of Jesus and continues through the Epiphany and the Baptism of the Lord.
 

---

Ordinary Time after the Baptism focuses on the early life and childhood of Christ, and then on His public ministry.
 

---

Lent is a special time of prayer, penance, sacrifice and good works in preparation of the celebration of Easter.  It recalls the 40 days Jesus spent in the desert, and the 40 years the Israelites wandered in the desert. Lent focuses on the events leading up to Christ’s passion, and finally on the Passion itself.  The end of Lent is marked with the Sacred Triduum of Holy Thursday, Good Friday and Holy Saturday.   
 

---

The season of Easter is a joyous, celebratory season. It begins with celebrating Christ’s resurrection and ends by celebrating the descent of the Holy Spirit upon the Apostles and other followers of Jesus. Christ’s ascension into Heaven is celebrated just prior to Pentecost. The Easter season lasts through Pentecost.
 

---

The second period of Ordinary Time is the longest liturgical season.  This period of Ordinary Time focuses on Christ’s reign as King of kings, and on the age of the Church. This is the age we live in now, which is the time between the age of the Apostles and the age of Christ’s second and final coming for which we are ever preparing. The final Sunday in Ordinary Time is the Feast of Christ the King; the Saturday after this feast is the final day of Ordinary time.