--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Like a great waterwheel, the liturgical…" description: "\"“Like a great waterwheel, the liturgical year goes on relentlessly irrigating our souls, softening the ground of our hearts, nourishing the soil of our..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/529/joan-d-chittister-2635_beginnings-and-endin_like-a-great-waterwheel-the-liturgical-y_2714005.jpg" --- # Like a great waterwheel, the liturgical year goes on… ![“Like a great waterwheel, the liturgical year goes on relentlessly irrigating our souls, softening the ground of our hearts, nourishing the soil of our lives until the seed of the Word of God itself begins to grow in us, comes to fruit in us, ripens in us the spiritual journey of a lifetime. So…” quote by Joan D. Chittister](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/529/joan-d-chittister-2635_beginnings-and-endin_like-a-great-waterwheel-the-liturgical-y_2714005.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/529/joan-d-chittister-2635_beginnings-and-endin_like-a-great-waterwheel-the-liturgical-y_2714005.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/529/joan-d-chittister-2635_beginnings-and-endin_like-a-great-waterwheel-the-liturgical-y_2714005.jpg) > ““Like a great waterwheel, the liturgical year goes on relentlessly irrigating our souls, softening the ground of our hearts, nourishing the soil of our lives until the seed of the Word of God itself begins to grow in us, comes to fruit in us, ripens in us the spiritual journey of a lifetime. So goes the liturgical year through all the days of our lives. /it concentrates us on the two great poles of the faith - the birth and death of Jesus of Nazareth. But as Christmas and Easter trace the life of Jesus for us from beginning to end, the liturgical year does even more: it also challenges our own life and vision and sense of meaning. Both a guide to greater spiritual maturity and a path to a deepened spiritual life, the liturgical year leads us through all the great questions of faith as it goes. It rehearses the dimensions of life over and over for us all the years of our days. It leads us back again and again to reflect on the great moments of the life of Jesus and so to apply them to our own ... As the liturgical year goes on every day of our lives, every season of every year, tracing the steps of Jesus from Bethlehem to Jerusalem, so does our own life move back and forth between our own beginnings and endings, between our own struggles and triumphs, between the rush of acclamation and the crush of abandonment. It is the link between Jesus and me, between this life and the next, between me and the world around me, that is the gift of the liturgical year. The meaning and message of the liturgical year is the bedrock on which we strike our own life's direction. Rooted in the Resurrection promise of the liturgical year, whatever the weight of our own pressures, we maintain the course. We trust in the future we cannot see and do only know because we have celebrated the death and resurrection of Jesus year after year. In His life we rest our own. ― Joan D. Chittister, The Liturgical Year: The Spiraling Adventure of the Spiritual Life - The Ancient Practices Series”” [Joan D. Chittister](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joan-d-chittister/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. The liturgical calendar continuously nurtures believers, linking the life of Jesus to personal spiritual growth and meaning. **In simple terms:** Yearly cycles deepen faith and guide life. Key Takeaway Embrace the rhythm of the liturgical year. Themes faith spiritual growth ritual meaning reflection Mood contemplative hopeful Type religious philosophical When to use this quote - daily prayer - church seasons - personal reflection - spiritual direction Key Concepts liturgical calendar spiritual formation symbolism Questions to Reflect On - How does the liturgical cycle shape your daily life? - What personal insights arise from seasonal rituals? A Different Perspective May feel rigid for non‑religious readers. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Beginnings and endings](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/beginnings-and-endings/) [Birth and death](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/birth-and-death/) [Christmas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/christmas/) [Church](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/church/) [Days Of Our Lives](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/days-of-our-lives/) [Easter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/easter/) [Jesus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/jesus/) [Life](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/life/) [Liturgy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/liturgy/) [Resurrection](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/resurrection/) [Resurrection Of Jesus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/resurrection-of-jesus/) [Spiritual journey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/spiritual-journey/) [Spiritual life](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/spiritual-life/) [Spiritual maturity](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/spiritual-maturity/) ## Related quotes > [The liturgical year is the year that sets out to attune the life of the Christian to the life of Jesus, the Christ. It…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joan-d-chittister/the-liturgical-year-is-the-year-that-sets-out-to-attune-the-life-of/) [Joan D. Chittister](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joan-d-chittister/) > [“Liturgy puts us to work along with all the others who have been and are being put to work in the world by and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eugene-h-peterson/liturgy-puts-us-to-work-along-with-all-the-others-who-have-been-and/) [Eugene H. Peterson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eugene-h-peterson/) > [The most urgent task is that of the biblical and liturgical formation of the people of God...](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pope-john-paul-ii/the-most-urgent-task-is-that-of-the-biblical-and-liturgical-formation/) [Pope John Paul II](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pope-john-paul-ii/) > [“Above all, enter into the Church’s liturgy and make the liturgical cycle part of your life—let its rhythm work its way into your body…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-merton/above-all-enter-into-the-church-s-liturgy-and-make-the-liturgical/) [Thomas Merton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-merton/) > [Beauty, then, is not mere decoration, but rather an essential element of the liturgical action, since it is an attribute of God himself and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pope-benedict-xvi/beauty-then-is-not-mere-decoration-but-rather-an-essential-element-of/) [Pope Benedict XVI](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pope-benedict-xvi/) > [Catholic liturgical music, it would seem, is everywhere but in the Catholic Church itself.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-morris/catholic-liturgical-music-it-would-seem-is-everywhere-but-in-the/) [Richard Morris](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-morris/) > [I definitely enjoy liturgical work and choral work from the 15th century and 16th century, but I play in churches with a bit of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tim-hecker/i-definitely-enjoy-liturgical-work-and-choral-work-from-the-15th/) [Tim Hecker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tim-hecker/) > [Prayer is meaningless unless it is subversive, unless it seeks to overthrow and to ruin the pyramids of callousness, hatred, opportunism, falsehoods. The liturgical…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/abraham-joshua-heschel/prayer-is-meaningless-unless-it-is-subversive-unless-it-seeks-to/) [Abraham Joshua Heschel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/abraham-joshua-heschel/) > [It is more necessary than ever to intensify liturgical life ... by means of an appropriate formation ... of all the faithful...](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pope-john-paul-ii/it-is-more-necessary-than-ever-to-intensify-liturgical-life-by-means/) [Pope John Paul II](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pope-john-paul-ii/) > [What a wonderful thought it is... that some of the best days of our Lives... Haven't happened yet...](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/what-a-wonderful-thought-it-is-that-some-of-the-best-days-of-our/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Unlike the transient days of our lives that constantly come and go, nirvana has always been, is now, and always will be.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frederick-lenz/unlike-the-transient-days-of-our-lives-that-constantly-come-and-go/) [Frederick Lenz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frederick-lenz/) > [After doing this, going away, trying other things and working on other shows, this character, and working within Days of Our Lives, has been…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/matthew-ashford/after-doing-this-going-away-trying-other-things-and-working-on-other/) [Matthew Ashford](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/matthew-ashford/) > [When I was a kid, there was teasing in school. Then when I was a teenager on 'Days of Our Lives,' I certainly experienced…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alison-sweeney/when-i-was-a-kid-there-was-teasing-in-school-then-when-i-was-a/) [Alison Sweeney](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alison-sweeney/) > [Yesterday just died,tomorrow never cried;The days of our lives.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/yesterday-just-died-tomorrow-never-cried-the-days-of-our-lives/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [I love Days of Our Lives.' I'm glad to be a part of that. I will forever be connected to it, but there's so…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/greg-vaughan/i-love-days-of-our-lives-i-m-glad-to-be-a-part-of-that-i-will-forever/) [Greg Vaughan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/greg-vaughan/) ## More by Joan D. Chittister > [A hard heart makes for hard judgments; a compassionate heart understands the humanity of the one we presume to judge.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joan-d-chittister/a-hard-heart-makes-for-hard-judgments-a-compassionate-heart/) [Joan D. Chittister](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joan-d-chittister/) > [To be enlightened is to know that heaven is not "coming." Heaven is here.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joan-d-chittister/to-be-enlightened-is-to-know-that-heaven-is-not-coming-heaven-is-here/) [Joan D. Chittister](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joan-d-chittister/) > [We don't change as we get older - we just get to be more of what we've always been.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joan-d-chittister/we-don-t-change-as-we-get-older-we-just-get-to-be-more-of-what-we-ve/) [Joan D. Chittister](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joan-d-chittister/) > [We may well be the ones Proverbs warns when it reminds us: "Kings take pleasure in honest lips; they value the one who speaks…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joan-d-chittister/we-may-well-be-the-ones-proverbs-warns-when-it-reminds-us-kings-take/) [Joan D. Chittister](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joan-d-chittister/) > [Today we live in a world that judges its achievements by speed and busyness. Â… We are so busy making things happen that we…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joan-d-chittister/today-we-live-in-a-world-that-judges-its-achievements-by-speed-and/) [Joan D. Chittister](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joan-d-chittister/) > [My limitations make space for the gifts of other people. Without the grace of our limitations we would be isolated, dry, and insufferable creatures…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joan-d-chittister/my-limitations-make-space-for-the-gifts-of-other-people-without-the/) [Joan D. Chittister](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joan-d-chittister/) > [Humility is authenticity. It comes from the Latin word humus, meaning "earth." As the church has taught, we're made of dust, and unto dust…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joan-d-chittister/humility-is-authenticity-it-comes-from-the-latin-word-humus-meaning/) [Joan D. Chittister](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joan-d-chittister/) > [Compassion makes no distinction between friends and enemies, neighbors and outsiders, compatriots and foreigners. Compassion is the gate to human community.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joan-d-chittister/compassion-makes-no-distinction-between-friends-and-enemies-neighbors/) [Joan D. Chittister](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joan-d-chittister/) > [Prophets are so dangerous because they cry in season and out of season, politely and impolitely, loud and long.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joan-d-chittister/prophets-are-so-dangerous-because-they-cry-in-season-and-out-of/) [Joan D. Chittister](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joan-d-chittister/) > [“We don't change as we get older - we just get to be ore of what we've always been.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joan-d-chittister/we-don-t-change-as-we-get-older-we-just-get-to-be-ore-of-what-we-ve/) [Joan D. Chittister](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joan-d-chittister/) > [“What happens to the spiritual life of a young girl who is made to understand, consciously or subconsciously, that she has no place in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joan-d-chittister/what-happens-to-the-spiritual-life-of-a-young-girl-who-is-made-to/) [Joan D. Chittister](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joan-d-chittister/) > [Old age tells us that we ourselves have failed often, have never really done anything completely right, have never truly been perfect - anad…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joan-d-chittister/old-age-tells-us-that-we-ourselves-have-failed-often-have-never/) [Joan D. Chittister](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joan-d-chittister/) > [But we are here to depart from this world as finished as we can possibly become.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joan-d-chittister/but-we-are-here-to-depart-from-this-world-as-finished-as-we-can/) [Joan D. Chittister](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joan-d-chittister/) > [“Whatever happens to the body, what toll age takes on the physical, the spirit does not grow old. In our dreams, in the way…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joan-d-chittister/whatever-happens-to-the-body-what-toll-age-takes-on-the-physical-the/) [Joan D. Chittister](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joan-d-chittister/) > [Two ideas militate against our consciously contributing to a better world. The idea that we can do everything or the conclusion that we can…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joan-d-chittister/two-ideas-militate-against-our-consciously-contributing-to-a-better/) [Joan D. Chittister](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joan-d-chittister/) [Explore all 156 Joan D. Chittister quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joan-d-chittister/) ## More Beginnings and endings quotes > [“When you let go of control and commit yourself to happiness, it is so easy to offer compassion and forgiveness. This propels you from…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/shannon-l-alder/when-you-let-go-of-control-and-commit-yourself-to-happiness-it-is-so/) [Shannon L. Alder](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/shannon-l-alder/) > [The great miraculous bell of translucent ice is suspended in mid-air. It rings to announce endings and beginnings. And it rings because there is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/vera-nazarian/the-great-miraculous-bell-of-translucent-ice-is-suspended-in-mid-air/) [Vera Nazarian](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/vera-nazarian/) > [“Same people. Same hellos and goodbyes. Same beginnings and endings. Same befores and afters.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sarah-ockler/same-people-same-hellos-and-goodbyes-same-beginnings-and-endings-same/) [Sarah Ockler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sarah-ockler/) > [“You can start over as many times as you want.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sara-ellie-mackenzie/you-can-start-over-as-many-times-as-you-want/) [Sara Ellie MacKenzie](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sara-ellie-mackenzie/) > [“When we stop clinging to beginnings and endings, we discover in the middle the eternal presence of our divine being.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anthon-st-maarten/when-we-stop-clinging-to-beginnings-and-endings-we-discover-in-the/) [Anthon St. Maarten](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anthon-st-maarten/) > [Every exit is an entrance to someplace else](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/patti-labelle/every-exit-is-an-entrance-to-someplace-else/) [Patti LaBelle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/patti-labelle/) > [“Life begins like a dream, becomes a little real, and ends like a dream.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-bassey-johnson/life-begins-like-a-dream-becomes-a-little-real-and-ends-like-a-dream/) [Michael Bassey Johnson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-bassey-johnson/) > [There are never beginnings and endings in my work; everything just fits into place after a while.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bruce-gilden/there-are-never-beginnings-and-endings-in-my-work-everything-just/) [Bruce Gilden](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bruce-gilden/) > [My present and most fixed opinion regarding the nature of alcoholic fermentation is this: The chemical act of fermentation is essentially a phenomenon correlative…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/louis-pasteur/my-present-and-most-fixed-opinion-regarding-the-nature-of-alcoholic/) [Louis Pasteur](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/louis-pasteur/) > [Generosity, generosity, generosity, must be the beginning and ending of our life](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cornelia-connelly/generosity-generosity-generosity-must-be-the-beginning-and-ending-of/) Cornelia Connelly > [“A person’s life is a bounded thing that must end. We will leave this earth with unfinished business. Regardless of the outcome of this…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kilroy-j-oldster/a-person-s-life-is-a-bounded-thing-that-must-end-we-will-leave-this/) [Kilroy J. Oldster](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kilroy-j-oldster/) > [“It's possible to find order in chaos, and it's equally possible to find chaos underlying apparent order. Order and chaos are slippery concepts. They're…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gavin-extence/it-s-possible-to-find-order-in-chaos-and-it-s-equally-possible-to/) [Gavin Extence](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gavin-extence/) > [Mary Stuart wrote, 'My end is in my beginning.' It is easier to agree with her than to decide what is the beginning, and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/patricia-wentworth/mary-stuart-wrote-my-end-is-in-my-beginning-it-is-easier-to-agree/) [Patricia Wentworth](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/patricia-wentworth/) > [“Beginnings and endings are simply part of a journey that isn’t stopped by either.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/craig-d-lounsbrough/beginnings-and-endings-are-simply-part-of-a-journey-that-isn-t/) [Craig D. Lounsbrough](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/craig-d-lounsbrough/) > [“You have to know a lot of songs to cook the way our ancestors cooked. The songs are like clocks with spells. Some enslaved…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-w-twitty/you-have-to-know-a-lot-of-songs-to-cook-the-way-our-ancestors-cooked/) [Michael W. Twitty](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-w-twitty/) [Browse all 85 Beginnings and endings quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/beginnings-and-endings/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“Like a great waterwheel, the liturgical year goes on relentlessly irrigating our souls, softening the ground of our hearts, nourishing the soil of our lives until the seed of the Word of God itself begins to grow in us, comes to fruit in us, ripens in us the spiritual journey of a lifetime. So goes the liturgical year through all the days of our lives. /it concentrates us on the two great poles of the faith - the birth and death of Jesus of Nazareth. But as Christmas and Easter trace the life of Jesus for us from beginning to end, the liturgical year does even more: it also challenges our own life and vision and sense of meaning. Both a guide to greater spiritual maturity and a path to a deepened spiritual life, the liturgical year leads us through all the great questions of faith as it goes. It rehearses the dimensions of life over and over for us all the years of our days. It leads us back again and again to reflect on the great moments of the life of Jesus and so to apply them to our own ... As the liturgical year goes on every day of our lives, every season of every year, tracing the steps of Jesus from Bethlehem to Jerusalem, so does our own life move back and forth between our own beginnings and endings, between our own struggles and triumphs, between the rush of acclamation and the crush of abandonment. It is the link between Jesus and me, between this life and the next, between me and the world around me, that is the gift of the liturgical year. The meaning and message of the liturgical year is the bedrock on which we strike our own life's direction. Rooted in the Resurrection promise of the liturgical year, whatever the weight of our own pressures, we maintain the course. We trust in the future we cannot see and do only know because we have celebrated the death and resurrection of Jesus year after year. In His life we rest our own. ― Joan D. Chittister, The Liturgical Year: The Spiraling Adventure of the Spiritual Life - The Ancient Practices Series”", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Joan D. 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