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Dear brothers and sisters,

The Fourth Sunday of Lent is Laetare Sunday. We mark this day with rose coloured vestments at Mass. The word Laetare is taken from the Entrance Antiphon for Mass: "Rejoice, Jerusalem". Perhaps we do not see Lent as a time for rejoicing - it is the penitential season of our year – yet there must be always an element of rejoicing in the life of the Christian.

In this Sunday’s first reading, from the Book of Chronicles, the writer tells of the coming of Cyrus, King of Persia, who allows the people of Israel to return home after some seventy years of exile in Babylon. The yearning of the people for their homeland – expressed in the Responsorial Psalm – comes to an end and Cyrus, in response to his own experience of God’s call to him, also allows the people to rebuild their temple. The Chosen People of Israel find their unity once again, their dignity is restored. They can be at home once more. They rejoice.

St Paul, writing to the Ephesians, speaks of a different separation. This is the separation that comes through sin. The conscious turning away from God that is sin brings exile. We find ourselves living in the darkness that is separation from God’s love. The greater our turning away, the greater the separation – the more distant the exile. Yet, as St Paul celebrates in his letter, God’s mercy is generous and in Christ we see the richness of His love, His grace. Through the saving work of Jesus, we can recognise once more that we are truly works of art – created by and for the love of God. We can be at home once more – brought home through Jesus' Passion, Death and Resurrection. We rejoice.

Jesus, in his conversation with Nicodemus, describes His own saving work: “God sent his Son into the world, not to condemn the world, but so that through Him the world might be saved.” This is the reason for our rejoicing.  We must lament our sins – a necessary part of our Lenten journey – but we do this knowing that God’s love and mercy – in the saving work of Jesus – overcomes even the darkest moments, the darkest places of our lives. Christ Jesus calls us home to live His life. This is the only way we can be truly at home. In Him we rejoice.

With every blessing,

+ Richard

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