They’re rose-colored, not pink!
This past Sunday, the Church bade us, “Laetare” (“rejoice”), as we marked the halfway point of Lent with Laetare Sunday. Clad in rose-colored vestments, our clergy reminded us that God will turn all our suffering to joy, both at Easter, to come in a few weeks, and when we join Him in Heaven. One of the issues many Catholics face on Laetare Sunday comes from that fact that it can feel like any other Sunday, odd vestments aside. The things for which the Church tells us to rejoice can all feel so distant amidst the difficulties of Lent and the drudgeries of life. Thankfully, we have Pope Saint John Paul II to give us a little advice on how to rejoice.
Pope John Paul teaches us that the struggles of Lent actually increase our joy at Easter, while the difficulties of life increase our joys in Heaven. As we learned on Ash Wednesday, the self-mastery we gain through the deprivations of Lent gives us a greater capacity for Love. That same self-mastery also gives us a greater capacity to rejoice. In his Angelus address on Laetare Sunday in 1979, Pope John Paul says, “During Lent, the Church lives in the prospect of the joy of the Resurrection. The Sunday call to joy today also reminds us of this prospect; but the joy that comes from toil is even greater.” In this address, Pope John Paul reminds us that the struggles of life and of Lent make the rewards of Heaven and of Easter all the sweeter.
We can compare this to a good workout. While exercise may not always feel good in the moment, the feelings of accomplishment and the knowledge that your body has become stronger bring joy out of your struggle. Pope John Paul expands on this idea by saying, “We always feel joy when we see that we are capable of demanding something from ourselves; that we are capable of giving something of ourselves to God and to our neighbor.” This ties in perfectly with our ideas of self-mastery increasing our capacity for love. In fact, our joy increases precisely because our capacity for love increases. With this increased capacity for love garnered by the difficulties of life and Lent, we can more deeply experience the joy of God’s love.
Amid the labor of Lent, God prepares us for His joyful union with Himself. Pope John Paul exhorts us to this glorious end in his inspiring address on Laetare Sunday in 1979:
“Let the period of Lent stimulate us, therefore, to carry out our Christian duties. Let us find again the joy that participation in the Eucharist gives us. Let Sunday Mass become for us the climax of every week. Let us find again the joy that comes from repentance, from conversion, from this splendid sacrament of reconciliation with God, which Christ set up to re-establish peace in man’s conscience. Let us undertake the spiritual effort that Lent demands of us in order to be capable of accepting with all the depth of the spirit this call of the Church today: ‘Laetare, Jerusalem.’”
The introit from which ‘Laetare Sunday’ draws its name
Chris Tarantino is the Communications Director for TOBET. He studied History at The University at Texas A&M and has written for the Tennessee Register and Nashville Catholic.
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