A Laetare Sunday Thought From Pope St. Leo the Great
Today, the fourth Sunday of Lent, "Laetare Sunday," we get a little glimpse of Easter. In addition to our usual Sunday respite, it brings a little burst of inspiration and energy to propel us through the last few weeks of Lent. Enjoy the break and the boost. Lately we've focusing our Sunday thoughts on the reasons for and benefits of our Lenten discipline in the hopes that this would encourage us in our efforts to persist through these 40 days. A recent example of such benefits: The strength we gain from our our sacrifices will assist us in faithfully observing the Ten Commandments. Last Sunday, Saint Pope John Paul II provided clear instruction on just why that's so fundamentally important. We saw how the Ten Commandments - and the moral law derived from them - are not just ideals to which we aspire without any realistic expectation of success, as some have recently claimed. To the extent we fall short, we sin. Our Lenten discipline strengthens us - th...