Thoughts on Laetare Sunday

 4th Sunday of Lent (B) John 3: 14 - 21 

On the fourth Sunday of Lent, the usual austerity of the season is being interrupted:

This Sunday is called Laetare Sunday (Rejoice Sunday): rose vestments (a lightening of the penitential purple) may be worn; altar flowers are permitted; joyous music is appropriate.

Soon, there will be other interruptions of Lent:

· St. Patrick’s Day (next Sunday): a great feast and celebration for many

· St. Joseph’s Day (March 19): a solemnity with Gloria and Creed; another great feast for many

These days when the Church celebrates even in the midst of the penitential season of Lent might remind us of those frequent ups and downs of our lives; particularly the ups and downs, the victories and defeats of our Lenten devotion.

Today particularly, Laetare Sunday, is meant to be a time of joy amidst the “sorrows” of Lent (the austerity, penance, mortification). The name itself, laetare means “rejoice.” But why should we rejoice?

· We are already more than halfway through Lent, and there are already many signs of spring.

· We are only three weeks from Easter, the feast of our greatest joy and greatest hope.

· We rejoice because we are reminded to keep a proper perspective.

During Lent we spend time thinking about – praying about – our sinfulness, how we have turned from God.

We are very much focused on the “negative” as we strive to repent.

But Laetare Sunday and today’s Gospel remind us that not all is heavy, somber, and weighted down with sin and suffering in this Vale of Tears.

Today's Gospel is the very essence of the Good News of our salvation: “For God so loved the world that He gave His only Son . . .” Remembering the essence of the Gospel is gaining proper perspective, which is of the greatest importance. Our lives, something like the season of Lent, can sometimes seem dark, heavy, somber, weighted down with great pain and terrible suffering. There is no life so charmed that these experiences are unknown.

But, our lives, like Lent, also have those times of Laetare Sunday, and great feasts of St. Patrick’s Day and St. Joseph’s Day. Not all is suffering; not all is rejoicing. Proper perspective and the truth teach us there are times for both.

Remembering the truth of the Gospel, the truth of our Holy Catholic Faith, we keep the proper perspective:

Even in suffering, Our Lord is with us and knows exactly what we do suffer. And even in suffering we believe there will be a glorious end – like the glorious end of the Passion that burst forth into the world on Easter.

Think of that most basic question, “Why should I believe?” We should believe “Because God so loved the world that He gave His only Son, so that everyone who believes in Him might not perish but might have eternal life.” (Jn 3:16)

So, even as Lent continues for three more weeks, on Laetare Sunday, and on St. Patrick’s Day and St. Joseph’s Day, remember that there is always reason to rejoice! There is always reason to give thanks to God. And having that attitude is what it means to keep the proper perspective of the True Faith.

Don Saunders, S.J.