A Laetare Sunday Thought to Start the Week Off Right
Good News: The Rose Returns!
When we began this blog eons ago, it was so rare to see a priest celebrate Mass wearing the traditional rose-colored vestments on either Gaudete (Advent) or Laetare (Lent) Sunday - yet another venerable, meaningful, and moving tradition dashed against the rocks by the storm that arrived after Vatican II. But it seems these days rose gets more respect; at least it has in our neck of the woods. So amidst all the bad and not-so-great that sometimes permeates our Holy Church these days, a bit of good news.
But whatever your priest wears to celebrate Mass today, Laetare Sunday provides a slight respite, that little burst of inspiration and energy to propel us through the last two weeks or so of Lent. And for many of us, it arrives just in the nick of time. After all, many (if not most) of us simply don't care to either deny ourselves any of life's pleasures (fasting) or make the special efforts at prayer and almsgiving that Holy Mother Church requires. It takes effort and we're not always all that willing or cooperative. But, no matter our inclinations, let's remember such efforts are, in fact, required.
Let's think about this a bit. We're expected, indeed commanded, to do something. Really. Of course, the Church today has softened somewhat in it's assertion of its legitimate authority, so for may of us "commanded" sounds a bit harsh. Today's Catholics, like most people, don't particularly like to be told what to do. But while so many of us Catholics don't like to be told what to do these days, the fact is the teaching authority of our Holy Church ought to command our attention, respect, and compliance.
Why the stubborn reluctance here? Maybe our lack or responsiveness has something to with the general lack of regard for authority that has swept over our deteriorating society and culture since the 1960s. (It actually all began long before that; but the 60s galvanized this attitude for many folks who hadn't been infected with it until then.) Back in those tawdry times the fashion was to "question authority" - not always a bad thing, of course, when it comes to abusive or illegitimate authority. But along with sensible, legitimate questioning came an utter and complete lack of respect for any authority whatsoever - not a good thing.
In so many ways, too many of us conduct our lives with this skewed, even perverted, view towards authority. Not all, to be sure; but too many. Once parents, teachers, elders, priests, policemen, etc. could expect a certain degree of respect and deference. No longer. Our personal behavior, especially our language, reflects this loss of deference and respect in its descent into the vulgar and offensive. We've all experienced this. Indeed, we're surrounded by it; and, for the most part, many of us (sadly) now accept it as "normal." It's not. Oh, it might be the norm these days; but it's not "normal" for us human beings to behave as many of do these days. (Not sure about that? Okay then, think: We're created in the image and likeness of God. A few minutes meditation on that stunning and wonderful fact should be enough to convince you that the kind of language and behavior that permeates so much of our social interactions is - to put it mildly - inappropriate. And if that doesn't convince, I don't know what will.)
Look at it this way: If we don't respect parents, teachers, law enforcement, civil authority (when exercised consistent with natural law), society frays, then comes apart at the seams. There's no social "order." And doesn't that describe what we see and feel around us today? The True, the Good, and the Beautiful drown and ultimately disappear in unending waves of obscenity, vulgarity, violence, and pleasure-seeking. Rather than concern for the common good, we care only for ourselves, our selfish desires.
So lose your post-60s aversion to authority, if that's been holding you back from diligently and persistently pursuing some form of Lenten discipline as prescribed by our Holy Church. But even if it's simply your all-too-human aversion to discomfort, never mind pain, that's holding you back, get over it these last weeks of Lent. Remember, the Church isn't telling you pleasure is bad. If that were true, there would be no Laetare Sunday. Father John Murphy will explain this in more detail:
A blessed Laetare Sunday to all!
When we began this blog eons ago, it was so rare to see a priest celebrate Mass wearing the traditional rose-colored vestments on either Gaudete (Advent) or Laetare (Lent) Sunday - yet another venerable, meaningful, and moving tradition dashed against the rocks by the storm that arrived after Vatican II. But it seems these days rose gets more respect; at least it has in our neck of the woods. So amidst all the bad and not-so-great that sometimes permeates our Holy Church these days, a bit of good news.
But whatever your priest wears to celebrate Mass today, Laetare Sunday provides a slight respite, that little burst of inspiration and energy to propel us through the last two weeks or so of Lent. And for many of us, it arrives just in the nick of time. After all, many (if not most) of us simply don't care to either deny ourselves any of life's pleasures (fasting) or make the special efforts at prayer and almsgiving that Holy Mother Church requires. It takes effort and we're not always all that willing or cooperative. But, no matter our inclinations, let's remember such efforts are, in fact, required.
Let's think about this a bit. We're expected, indeed commanded, to do something. Really. Of course, the Church today has softened somewhat in it's assertion of its legitimate authority, so for may of us "commanded" sounds a bit harsh. Today's Catholics, like most people, don't particularly like to be told what to do. But while so many of us Catholics don't like to be told what to do these days, the fact is the teaching authority of our Holy Church ought to command our attention, respect, and compliance.
Why the stubborn reluctance here? Maybe our lack or responsiveness has something to with the general lack of regard for authority that has swept over our deteriorating society and culture since the 1960s. (It actually all began long before that; but the 60s galvanized this attitude for many folks who hadn't been infected with it until then.) Back in those tawdry times the fashion was to "question authority" - not always a bad thing, of course, when it comes to abusive or illegitimate authority. But along with sensible, legitimate questioning came an utter and complete lack of respect for any authority whatsoever - not a good thing.
In so many ways, too many of us conduct our lives with this skewed, even perverted, view towards authority. Not all, to be sure; but too many. Once parents, teachers, elders, priests, policemen, etc. could expect a certain degree of respect and deference. No longer. Our personal behavior, especially our language, reflects this loss of deference and respect in its descent into the vulgar and offensive. We've all experienced this. Indeed, we're surrounded by it; and, for the most part, many of us (sadly) now accept it as "normal." It's not. Oh, it might be the norm these days; but it's not "normal" for us human beings to behave as many of do these days. (Not sure about that? Okay then, think: We're created in the image and likeness of God. A few minutes meditation on that stunning and wonderful fact should be enough to convince you that the kind of language and behavior that permeates so much of our social interactions is - to put it mildly - inappropriate. And if that doesn't convince, I don't know what will.)
Look at it this way: If we don't respect parents, teachers, law enforcement, civil authority (when exercised consistent with natural law), society frays, then comes apart at the seams. There's no social "order." And doesn't that describe what we see and feel around us today? The True, the Good, and the Beautiful drown and ultimately disappear in unending waves of obscenity, vulgarity, violence, and pleasure-seeking. Rather than concern for the common good, we care only for ourselves, our selfish desires.
So lose your post-60s aversion to authority, if that's been holding you back from diligently and persistently pursuing some form of Lenten discipline as prescribed by our Holy Church. But even if it's simply your all-too-human aversion to discomfort, never mind pain, that's holding you back, get over it these last weeks of Lent. Remember, the Church isn't telling you pleasure is bad. If that were true, there would be no Laetare Sunday. Father John Murphy will explain this in more detail:
“…A nature quick to feel the various pleasures that come through the senses is not to be suppressed, but controlled and kept in order to keep reason in command. Plato suggested that the head is enthroned above the rest of the body to remind us that the thinking part of our nature deserves the most consideration and enjoys the most prestige. We must eat to live, therefore, not live to eat only…no one grows holy by either trying to destroy his nature or by catering to its every whim, but by controlling and super-naturalizing it…Any capital sin gives birth to a whole litter of distasteful habits, and gluttony spawns especially sluggishness, crudity, and a general catering to laziness of mind and softness of body. Food is a blessing and it is given to man to be blessed, to be used to sustain life, and even to help him grow spiritually.”We can and should enjoy the legitimate pleasures that come with Laetare Sunday, just as we can and should defer to that legitimate authority intended to teach, guide, and protect us. And as we resume our Lenten rigors tomorrow, remember that any control of our senses we might gain by our discipline will help us to grow spiritually, which really means grow closer to God. Ultimately, that's the entire point of Lent.
A blessed Laetare Sunday to all!
We adore Thee O Christ and we bless Thee,
Because by Thy Holy Cross Thou Hast Redeemed the world.
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