This Sunday is known as Laetare Sunday. The entrance antiphon for this Sunday in Latin is “Laetare Jerusalem” or “Rejoice, Jerusalem”. We are halfway through Lent now, and the Church gives us this Sunday to add in a little ‘rejoicing’. The presiders have the option of wearing rose-colored vestments, which just like during Advent, is seen as a mixture of the regular Lenten purple and the upcoming white of Easter. We can add in some greenery or flowers to the sanctuary. We aren’t in the Easter season yet, so we aren’t going to go crazy and sing the Gloria or Alleluia or pull out the Easter lilies! We are still in the Lenten season and it is time to renew our resolutions of this Lent and make sure we’re still on the right path. If you haven’t been good lately on whatever it was you were ‘giving up’ during Lent (chocolate, candy, pop, etc…), it’s time to get back into it; if you were going to do something extra like pray more, it’s time to rejuvenate that prayer! We’re almost to Easter! Stay strong!
Our music reminds us, once again, that we are still in this Lenten season.
We are reminded this weekend in our readings and music of God’s mercy and forgiveness. Our opening song speaks directly to this in “There’s a Wideness in God’s Mercy”. Likewise, at the preparation of the gifts, we sing “Gracious God, mercy is your name.” Our first song at Communion is another reiteration of the responsorial psalm – “Taste and See” with the text from Psalm 34. “Loving and Forgiving”, also at Communion, speaks of God’s mercy and kindness with the text from Psalm 103.
Remember the three pillars of Lent – prayer, fasting and almsgiving. A great time to jumpstart our Lent if we’ve forgotten about these three aspects!