Rector’s Note: In Pink in the Middle of Lent-3.12.26

This week, we got a little taste of Spring as temperatures soared, and people walked about in shorts, t-shirts, and light jackets. The breeze felt like a balm on my bare legs. The patch of snow that filled our staff parking spaces finally receded to nothing.

Of course, by the time you read this, we will be back to the customary temperatures of mid-winter. But it was nice to be reminded of what lies ahead.

Coincidentally, our Lenten calendar is doing the same thing. This Sunday is the mid-point of Lent, traditionally called Laetare Sunday, meaning rejoice! The name comes from the first words of the ancient introit, or introductory prayers, designated for this day:

Rejoice with Jerusalem, and be glad for her, all you who love her; rejoice with her in joy, all you who mourn over her: that you may nurse and be satisfied from her consoling breast.

It’s a day that I could wear pink vestments, if I had them. It’s like lighting the third pink candle of Advent on Gaudete Sunday in anticipation of Christmas.

In the Church of England, the day is also called Mothering Sunday, when people would pay a visit to the churches where they were baptized. Given that St. Peter’s was the original mother church of the St. Philip’s congregation, this is a great day for rejoicing for our shared ministry together. And it’s also called Refreshment Sunday, a time to relax the Lenten fast, which means that you can have two pieces of dessert at Fellowship Hour after liturgy.

The tradition is an old one, and it’s hard to find in our readings for this Sunday, where we will reflect on light and sight and the anointing of King David. We may have buried the Alleluia, but we can still rejoice in the middle of the fasting, the prayers of penitence, and the almsgiving.

I love this habit of the church to pause in the middle of a somber time and imagine joy to come. It’s like a beatitude, where we imagine God’s blessing alongside our suffering. And it’s a really subversive practice when you consider the frightening times we’re in right now. Sackcloth and ashes fit well with the news cycle. But as Christians, we turn to the somber and the solemn and the quiet to make sacred space for the rejoicing to come.

At this midway point, we give it a little taste to see how it’s coming along.

How might you practice Laetare rejoicing in this mid-way point of Lent? This is a good day to reflect on answered prayers, signs of Christ’s presence, and acknowledgement of God’s faithfulness to you. Put on some music that lifts your soul or watch a movie with family that brings you joy. Take a walk when the weather clears a bit and look for daffodils pushing up and look for birds that have newly returned on the seasonal migration routes.

It’s also a good time to dream about the future you want for your neighbors, your community, and country, and to prayerfully consider how to move toward that vision. I’ve been thinking a lot about this of late, asking myself what gifts will bring the rebuilding and healing that we will be called to do in a future that I hope is coming soon.

Meanwhile, if you’d like to wear pink this Sunday, I won’t stand in your way.