Today, our church commemorates Laetare Sunday from the Latin “to rejoice” where we see a change in the vestments worn to a rose color. We recall that while we are wandering through our spiritual deserts in conducting our penances of increased prayer, almsgiving, fasting & drawing closer to the Lord, we are awaiting with joyful anticipation that Easter moment of resurrection.
However, just as we await with joy what is to come on Easter Sunday, we should contemplate the Gospel message today from John where the gospel writer describes a God of love. This God of ours who sanctified our condition through a selfless act of love & sacrifice bestows on us that saving grace for our transgressions. The true joy of Laetare Sunday reminds us that we are called to be selfless and humble servants in our own life for our brothers and sisters in our world. Even being a Christ to those we disagree with and our enemies requires a heart that is joyful and sincere. How do we find such joy in our world today?
We may wish to contemplate the fifth station of the cross in which Simon the Cyrene was made to help Jesus carry the cross. In a sense, Simon becomes the first Christian heeding the call of Jesus to take up the cross and follow him (Lk. 9:23). Our true joy is one where we imitate the humility of Jesus and take up the cross.
As the responsorial psalm reminds us, “let our tongue be silenced if we should forget the Lord.” How can we forget the Lord’s great love for us unless we are lacking a heart of humility & piety and aren’t open to receiving His grace? Perhaps we are just going through the motions? Maybe we have yet to help Jesus take up the cross? The cross, a symbol of that sin and barrier that separates us from having the true joy of drawing closer to God’s love for each and every one of us is one we must carry.
The letter to the Ephesians reminds us of this great act of love and joy we hold in our hearts from Jesus’s passion. “God, who is rich in mercy, because of the great love he had for us, even when we were dead in our transgressions, brought us to life with Christ” (Eph. 2:4-5).
John’s gospel chapter 3 reminds us that Jesus is the light that came into the world, yet some prefer darkness to the light. In order to find the true joy of the Lenten season, we must not be afraid to cast those obstacles and sinful behaviors into the light. We must be open to receiving the light of Christ Jesus in the sacrament of reconciliation this Lent. When we receive absolution for the forgiveness of our sin in the sacrament of reconciliation, we receive the joy of Jesus’s love for us – a love that reminds us of that popular verse from John, chapter 3 verse 16 found in today’s gospel: “For 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.”
Today, let us take up our cross and cast aside those sins and obstacles in our life that prevent us from having a joyful heart. Let us approach the Lord today in humility and be open to forgiveness in order to receive His grace so that we can better imitate His joyful presence to our world we live in.
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