Come to the Light!

Gospel Reflection for Laetare Sunday, March 10 2024 - John 3:14-21

And this Son of Man must be lifted up, as the serpent was lifted up by Moses in the wilderness; so that those who believe in him may not perish, but have eternal life. God so loved the world, that he gave up his only-begotten Son, so that those who believe in him may not perish, but have eternal life. When God sent his Son into the world, it was not to reject the world, but so that the world might find salvation through him. For the man who believes in him, there is no rejection; the man who does not believe is already rejected; he has not found faith in the name of God’s only-begotten Son. Rejection lies in this, that when the light came into the world men preferred darkness to light; preferred it, because their doings were evil. Anyone who acts shamefully hates the light, will not come into the light, for fear that his doings will be found out. Whereas the man whose life is true comes to the light, so that his deeds may be seen for what they are, deeds done in God. (John 3:14-21 Knox Translation)

Today is the fourth Sunday of Lent, also known as Laetare Sunday, a day of rejoicing amidst the season of fasting and penance. Traditionally, when for her first 1970 years the Church had one cycle of readings throughout the liturgical year (as she still does in the Eastern churches), this day was additionally called the Sunday of the Loaves and Fishes, because this great miracle of Our Lord was read in the Gospel. Another name for this day was Mothering Sunday, due to a tradition since the Middle Ages in which Christians would visit their “mother church,” i.e. the parish in which they were baptized. All of these great traditions – of rejoicing, of remembering the multiplication of the loaves and of reconnecting with your mother church – all point forward toward Easter and remind us of the point of our penances: to know that God allows evil only so that greater good may come, that without the Cross there can be no Resurrection.

This day is called Laetare Sunday because we are called to rejoice while we suffer. This may seem paradoxical, and indeed it should by the standards of this world, just as Christ’s list of things that will make us happy in the Kingdom of Heaven, in His Beatitudes, would ordinarily be considered curses, such as mourning, poverty, injustice, etc. As J.R.R. Tolkien wrote, “The world is indeed full of peril, and in it there are many dark places; but still there is much that is fair, and though in all lands love is now mingled with grief, it grows perhaps the greater.” This is the true message of Laetare Sunday and of Lent in general: while we live in this Vale of Tears, suffering under the tortures of sin and the temptations of the world, the flesh and the devil, we can always know that Christ has already won, that the war is over even if the battle for our individual souls still rages on. Even while we are surrounded by darkness and evil, we can look ahead to the light of Christ that is never extinguished, so long as we, obedient to Our Lord, are willing to live in the light, to cast aside our affection for sin and let ourselves be exposed to the healing power of divine mercy. As Pope Innocent III once wrote, “As Lætare Sunday, the day set apart for the function, represents love after hate, joy after sorrow, and fullness after hunger, so does the rose designate by its colour, odour and taste, love, joy and satiety respectively”.

This day is also traditionally associated with the multiplication of the loaves and fishes in order to show what in this life is a constant reminder for us of the loving Providence of God, what Tolkien called “the never-ceasing silent appeal of Tabernacle, and the sense of starving hunger.” Not only Lent but life itself is a Great Fast, a penance for our sins through the endurance of suffering. In this way, we are disciplined to resist and be purified of all sinful attachments, taught to love Christ above all earthly goods and to see Him as the source and end of all that is loveable in Creation. For the sake of free will, we are meant to suffer through the effects of original sin, the evils of others and our own failings to reveal the unique divinity of Christ and His sole power of salvation, since only in freedom can we love as He loves and thus be conformed to Him, to participate in His divine life. The Eucharist is this participation, a foretaste of Heaven and our own resurrection, when we will be like Him and with Him in eternal joy. Therefore, during Lent, the Eucharist should be for us an endless source of contemplation, encouragement and consolation, helping us to retain this same sacramental vision throughout the year.

Finally, this day is called Mothering Sunday because historically Catholics would reconnect with the mother parish of their baptism, as a reminder of the sanctifying grace and divine life imparted to them in that great Sacrament of initiation. From Baptism all the other Sacraments extend; it joins us to the Body of Christ and infuses the sanctifying grace which the other Sacraments replenish (Confession) or perfect, most of all in the Eucharist. Therefore, while Laetare points to the end of Lent in Easter, Mothering points to the beginning of Lent in Baptism, to the new birth of our life in Christ and our first steps towards the maturity of Resurrection. On this day, rose is traditionally used as a color for liturgical vestments. Another association with this color is the Golden Rose, a gold ornament sent by popes throughout history as special gifts to particular churches, sanctuaries, Catholic sovereigns or other leaders in the Church or the world. This is also a kind of Mothering, a reminder of the necessity of the papacy and of fidelity to the Vicar of Christ as His chief representative on Earth. While we are all connected to our mother parish, we are also members of the Universal Church, affiliated as children of God with all our baptized brethren. For this reason, Lent is not only personal but communal, a sharing in the sufferings and joys of all other Christians in the Body of Christ and a call to enlarge the Body by drawing all men into perfect communion with Him. As Pope Leo XIII taught, the fragrance of the rose “shows the sweet odor of Christ which should be widely diffused by His faithful followers” while its thorns and red color refer to the sufferings of the Cross, the mingling of love and grief.

It is good for Catholics to be concerned about the evils they see in the Church and the world. We should be angry when God is offended, and we should be deeply concerned for the eternal souls of those who flagrantly violate His laws and condemn themselves to misery in this life and the next. But nonetheless, Laetare Sunday should be a reminder for us that Christianity is not ultimately a sad religion. Rather, it is the only truly joyous religion, one which does not negate or ignore humanity and the world but instead draws them up into the loving embrace of Christ, giving the only true source of hope for salvation in this life. Without Him, there is only despair, but with Him, there is sure and lasting joy. May our Lenten penances be means by which we can grow in the joy of Christ!