During Lent, the time of penance and fasting, there is a reminder in the Church that joy is coming in the Resurrection. On the fourth Sunday of Lent, known as Laetare Sunday, the Church in her wisdom allows us to take a break, to pause and refresh ourselves, to encourage us in our course through the season of penance for the final weeks of Lent and the Passion of the Lord. Laetare means “Rejoice” in Latin. We rejoice in the Lord who is going to resurrect on Easter Sunday. The priest wears rose colored vestments as a sign of joy, and the altar can even be decorated with flowers. The Church knew there will be difficult times ahead. The Covid Pandemic started in Lent, the war in Europe started two years later in Lent. The church calls us anyway to look further – there is the Resurrection.

By Father Eugene Grytner, S.D.S, Special to the Florida Catholic, March 24, 2022