laetare... rejoicing, in Lent

Hope everyone is having a great St. Patrick's Day - and remembering the awesome saint whose memory we commemorate today in ways other than just drinking green beer, etc., etc. Not that there's anything wrong with drinking green beer (but please, please, be safe out there tonight!!!).

Anyways... this weekend is cause for a celebration, besides St. Patrick's Day. It's the 4th Sunday of Lent, which is also known as Laetare Sunday... laetare means "rejoice" in Latin. This Sunday is our "bright spot" in the middle of Lent - a reminder of the Easter celebrations soon to come, a reminder that the culmination of our Lenten penitence is coming very soon.

I know I've mentioned this before, but in the parish my husband and I currently attend, Baptisms are celebrated at Saturday evening Mass on every third Sunday of the month. Yes, during Mass. Not afterward. This inclusion of Baptisms at Mass started in the fall, and I'm sure it initially caused heartburn for some Saturday evening Mass-goers who weren't too keen on the idea of Mass lasting just barely longer than an hour (seriously, just barely - maybe 10 minutes). I admit, that thought crossed my mind, too, but having never been part of a parish that celebrated this sacrament at Mass, except at Easter, I thought it sounded kind of cool. Over the past few months, I've come to really look forward to the third Sunday of the month, because it's always an occasion for "extra" joy at Mass. Aside from the fact that it's always fun (and sometimes funny!) to watch the kiddos receive new life in Christ and get their heads wet - and then covered with sacred chrism oil - in the process ;-) ... ... it's simply so beautiful to welcome children into the community of the universal Church through Baptism at Mass. Can you imagine what it would be like if the Sacrament of Baptism was celebrated at Mass in every parish? What kind of impact would the prayers of the entire congregation have on the lives of ALL those children, their parents, and godparents?

I'll get to the point. This weekend is the third Sunday of the month. And also Laetare Sunday. So, the Sacrament of Baptism was celebrated at Mass this evening - the vigil Mass anticipating Laetare Sunday. Cool, eh? I think so! It was awesome - a collision of joy on all levels... so beautiful and wonderful and exciting. Joyful celebration of baptism, a reminder of our own baptisms, and all on a Sunday in Lent on which we are called specifically to REJOICE.

We have so many things to rejoice over, and be grateful for - it is good to have this Sunday in the middle of Lent as a reminder! And in particular, as we are reminded in the Gospel for this Sunday, "'God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him may not perish but may have eternal life.'"

+Peace, and all good! Rejoice!