This Sunday, the 4th Sunday of Lent is traditionally called ‘Laetare Sunday.’ This marks the ‘mid point’ between the beginning of Lent and Easter Sunday. The word Laetare in Latin means Rejoice! It gets it’s name from the entrance antiphon for Mass from Isaiah 66:10 11: “Rejoice, Jerusalem, and all who love her. Be joyful, all who were in mourning; exalt and be satisfied at her consoling breast.” On Laetare Sunday (like Third Sunday of Advent’s Gaudete Sunday) the Church expresses hope and joy in the midst of our Lenten fasts and penances. The rose colored (sometimes pink) is a visual that shows a sign of hope as juxtaposed against the often viewed dark purple colors of Lent. Pink indicates a joy yet to come when Christ will rise from the dead at Easter. The joy of Easter being half way here, the church states in the General Instruction of the Roman Missal that flowers are permitted this weekend. They are not permitted at all during Lent. However, on Laetare Sunday there is a temporary halt to these more somber observances. For the community, Laetare Sunday should remind each of us that even in our life, whatever sorrow, sickness, or defeat we experience, it’s merely a half way to the joy that awaits those who love the Lord. Laetare Sunday should excite each of us who wait patiently during the very dark moments of like and like the book of Psalms reiterates, “Weeping may last through the night but with the dawn comes rejoicing.” Fr. Roach
