For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who in every respect has been tempted as we are, yet without sin.
Hebrews 4:15
James Joyce’s 700-page tome “Ulysses” tells the story of the extraordinarily ordinary Leopold Bloom’s life on June 16th, 1904, as he walks around Dublin and leads a generally very dull life. And yet, every June 16th for the past 100 years, people around the world have observed “Bloomsday”, named in Leopold Bloom’s honor, on which they recount, relive the day, and celebrate the hero of “Ulysses.”
It’s almost absurd, except that our hope rests in that same sort of Ordinary, which is that the Lord of all Creation, who spoke the world into being, in whom we live and move and have our being was potty trained, taught to walk, taught to speak, for Mary’s sake, hopefully put on a sleep schedule, and spent countless days in Ordinary Time. Hebrews says he is able to Empathize with our weaknesses because he experienced them. He has made the Ordinary, Holy.
And that’s what we can celebrate on Bloomsday.