Laetare Sunday's Glimmer of Hope to Start the Week Off Right
We call the fourth Sunday of Lent "Laetare Sunday" in the Latin Rite of our Catholic Church. The name comes from the Introit at Mass: "Laetare Jerusalem" (O be joyful, Jerusalem). Joyful indeed! With three more weeks until Easter, Holy Mother Church provides this glimmer of light and hope in the midst of our Lenten discipline to encourage us for the last part of this special spiritual journey. It helps us keep at it. With baseball season approaching, we might say we're rounding third base and heading for home.
Home maybe, but it would likely be a mistake to think you're "home-free" when we exit Lent in a few weeks and celebrate the Resurrection of Our Lord; "home-free" in the sense that you're "done" with all that sacrifice and discipline. First of all, does it make any sense to abstain from one or more enjoyable sensual delights only to gorge yourself once Lent ends? Will you stop praying after Mass on Easter Sunday? How about being generous with your means and yourself? Are you going to stop helping those in need? Will you put your charitable deeds and cheerfulness in a closet until next Ash Wednesday? Of course not! Lent helps us hone our prayers, sacrifices and almsgiving such that they will continue in a more generous, easy manner throughout the year.
Not that this means we should expect a huge transformation in our spiritual lives as a result of our efforts. In fact, we'll likely be more or less the same person we were when we started our Lenten journey a few weeks back. In fact, unless we're given the sort of extraordinary graces that utterly changed Mary Magdalen and St. Paul virtually in heartbeat, we'll be the same struggling sinners we were before all those special prayers, fasting, and alsmgiving. That's simply our lot in this world. It's normal and expected given our fallen human nature.
Of course, it would be great if maybe we could see or "feel" even the tiniest hint of progress in our spiritual lives as a result of our Lenten discipline. But, again, for most of us, even that's likely a stretch. More likely we'll feel a bit of relief as we ease up on those extraordinary practices and settle into our usual pattern. And once the relief passes, we may very well wonder what the point of it all was. All those prayers, special sacrifices and mortifications, all that giving of our substance and ourselves in almsgiving - for what? We're back to square one - or at least it may seem that way.
Don't fret. Recently I read a comparison of the spiritual life - the struggle for holiness - with an ocean voyage. Each day the horizon appears just as far away; we don't seem to make any progress - until we sight land at the end of our journey. OK, so this may not be the greatest consolation; but isn't it pretty much the case most of the time? And if it is, don't expect anything different this time around, even if you've had the "best" Lent in your life. Again, it would be great if you could see and feel some progress as a kind of reward for your special efforts. But don't count on it.
What you can count on is the daily struggle to grow closer to Our Lord one inch, then another - with a few missteps and reversals thrown in along the way. But if you can just stick to it, you'll find the end of the horizon at journey's end. And if at any point you're tempted to be discouraged, know that we're all in that same boat gazing at that elusive distant horizon.
At times like this, it's usually best to turn to Our Blessed Mother for a bit of consolation and encouragement. That's why these last couple of years, we've posted this wonderful prayer to Our Lady of Hope. Just as she has accompanied us through our Lenten journey, so she will be with us the rest of the year, a sympathetic ear and wise counselor.
Home maybe, but it would likely be a mistake to think you're "home-free" when we exit Lent in a few weeks and celebrate the Resurrection of Our Lord; "home-free" in the sense that you're "done" with all that sacrifice and discipline. First of all, does it make any sense to abstain from one or more enjoyable sensual delights only to gorge yourself once Lent ends? Will you stop praying after Mass on Easter Sunday? How about being generous with your means and yourself? Are you going to stop helping those in need? Will you put your charitable deeds and cheerfulness in a closet until next Ash Wednesday? Of course not! Lent helps us hone our prayers, sacrifices and almsgiving such that they will continue in a more generous, easy manner throughout the year.
Not that this means we should expect a huge transformation in our spiritual lives as a result of our efforts. In fact, we'll likely be more or less the same person we were when we started our Lenten journey a few weeks back. In fact, unless we're given the sort of extraordinary graces that utterly changed Mary Magdalen and St. Paul virtually in heartbeat, we'll be the same struggling sinners we were before all those special prayers, fasting, and alsmgiving. That's simply our lot in this world. It's normal and expected given our fallen human nature.
Of course, it would be great if maybe we could see or "feel" even the tiniest hint of progress in our spiritual lives as a result of our Lenten discipline. But, again, for most of us, even that's likely a stretch. More likely we'll feel a bit of relief as we ease up on those extraordinary practices and settle into our usual pattern. And once the relief passes, we may very well wonder what the point of it all was. All those prayers, special sacrifices and mortifications, all that giving of our substance and ourselves in almsgiving - for what? We're back to square one - or at least it may seem that way.
Don't fret. Recently I read a comparison of the spiritual life - the struggle for holiness - with an ocean voyage. Each day the horizon appears just as far away; we don't seem to make any progress - until we sight land at the end of our journey. OK, so this may not be the greatest consolation; but isn't it pretty much the case most of the time? And if it is, don't expect anything different this time around, even if you've had the "best" Lent in your life. Again, it would be great if you could see and feel some progress as a kind of reward for your special efforts. But don't count on it.
What you can count on is the daily struggle to grow closer to Our Lord one inch, then another - with a few missteps and reversals thrown in along the way. But if you can just stick to it, you'll find the end of the horizon at journey's end. And if at any point you're tempted to be discouraged, know that we're all in that same boat gazing at that elusive distant horizon.
At times like this, it's usually best to turn to Our Blessed Mother for a bit of consolation and encouragement. That's why these last couple of years, we've posted this wonderful prayer to Our Lady of Hope. Just as she has accompanied us through our Lenten journey, so she will be with us the rest of the year, a sympathetic ear and wise counselor.
“O Mary, my Mother, I kneel before thee with a heavy heart. The burden of my sins oppresses me. The knowledge of my weakness discourages me. I am beset by fears and temptations of every sort. Yet I am so attached to the things of this world that instead of longing for heaven I am filled with dread at the thought of death. O Mother of Mercy, have pity on me in my distress! Thou art all-powerful with thy Divine Son, He can refuse no request of thy Immaculate Heart. Show thyself a true Mother to me by being my advocate before His throne. O Refuge of Sinners and Hope of the Hopeless, to whom shall I turn if not to thee? Obtain for me, then, O Mother of Hope, the grace of true sorrow for my sins, the gift of perfect resignation to God’s holy will, and the courage to take up my cross and follow Jesus. Beg of His Sacred Heart the special favor that I ask in this prayer. But above all, I pray, O dearest Mother, that through thy most powerful intercession my heart may be filled with holy hope, so that in life’s darkest hour I may never fail to trust in God my Savior; but by walking in the way of His commandments I may merit to be united with Him, and with thee, in the eternal joys of heaven. Amen. Mary, our hope, have pity on us! Hope of the hopeless, pray for us!”
Happy Laetare Sunday,
and a continued Blessed Lent!
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