This is Laetare Sunday, the fourth Sunday of Lent. On this fourth Sunday of Lent, the clerics of the Church will wear Rose colored vestments (if parishes have rose vestments), to distinguish this Sunday from the other Sundays of holy Lent. The Latin word laetare means “rejoice”. It is taken from the first word of the traditional antiphon for this Sunday’s Mass, and that antiphon is taken from the book of the prophet Isaiah (66.10-11). On this fourth laetare Sunday of Lent, we are called to remember the joy of Easter and allow our penance to be seen and experienced through the lens of that victory…that victory over sin and death.

During this holy season of metanoia (conversion of mind and heart), we are invited to recognize our blindness…that inability to see the Lord’s creation as it was created to be. Instead of recognizing that we are called to be lovingly and joyfully dependent on God’s light and love…the habits of a broken heart blind us to the beauty all around us. The disciplines of holy Lent…an intensified prayerfulness, the bodily prayer of fasting and the works of service…these disciplines open our minds and hearts…the “eyes” of our soul…to healing…to Light. Let us re-commit ourselves, as individual disciples and as members of this parish family…to live a holy Lent…seeking that healing touch of the Lord.

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By the grace of God, Saint Brigid is blessed to have four deacons and three priests assigned to the parish. I thank God for each of my brothers. But oddly enough, in a parish blessed with such a handsome worship space, the deacons and priests do not have matching vestments. On this Laetare Sunday, Saint Brigid does not have rose colored vestments, to “announce” this Sunday of “rejoicing”.

What I hope to do is this: I will invite families of our parish to assist in purchasing new vestments for our clergy. Each family that sponsors one of the vestments will have their name (or the name of a deceased member of their family) sewn into the vestment’s collar. In this way, each cleric that puts on one of these new vestments will be able to offer a prayer of thanksgiving…for the gift given.

If you might be interested in sponsoring one or more of these vestments, please give me an electronic shout…at dtalley@saintbrigid.org.

AMDG
Ad maiorem Dei gloriam