The fourth Sunday of Lent is also known as Laetare Sunday – the Sunday of Joy. It coincides with the Jubilee of the Missionaries of Mercy taking place this weekend in Rome, the sixth of the major events of the current Holy Year. The Missionaries of Mercy are a group of confessors commissioned by Pope Francis during the last Extraordinary Jubilee of Mercy of 2016 with a special task of bringing the joy of God’s forgiveness to a world in need of reconciliation.
There is a striking phrase in the gospel for Laetare Sunday this year, uttered by the Prodigal Son (cf. Lk 15:11-32), “I will arise and go to my Father”. This follows, if you like, a sincere examination of conscience and a moment of inner conversion. Having come to his senses, “he arose and came to his father”. This is what Lent is all about – returning to the merciful Father. Just as the Lord God took away “the reproach of Egypt” from the Chosen People (cf. Jos 5:9-12), so He takes away our shame in the sacrament of Confession, lifting us up so that we may participate at the 'banquet of the reconciled' as children of God. The Church continues Christ’s mission of mercy, and in this Lenten Season “it is as though God were appealing through us, and the appeal that we make in Christ’s name is: be reconciled to God” (cf. 2 Cor 5:17-21).
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| Springtime in the Eternal City |
Arise and go – isn’t this the project of the Holy Year? Many have been wondering whether the Jubilee would continue while the Pope recovers from his recent illness. There is also uncertainty whether the Pope would preside over the Holy Week ceremonies. Yet every day hundreds of pilgrims arise and go through the Holy Door as if returning to the Father. This is why Pope Francis has encouraged the Missionaries of Mercy in a written message to bear witness to the paternal face of God, infinitely great in love, who calls everyone to conversion and constantly renews us with His forgiveness.
Staying, then, with the image from today’s parable for our reflection at the half-way mark of Lent 2025, perhaps we could ask ourselves which are the doors that still need opening? As we reflect on our lives as Christians, what are the things which prevent us from opening ourselves up to the great love of God? Do I arise and go to Holy Mass more frequently? Have I opened the door to reconciliation through Confession? Have I been able to open the door of my heart, in love for God and my neighbour, with more intense prayer, fasting and works of mercy? An honest look at our Lenten journey could, in fact, fill us with hope. When sin seems to be holding us back, we should have the courage to arise and go!
This is also the time in which the catechumens
are preparing more intensely to enter the Church through that door to the
sacraments, baptism, and so take on a new life in Christ at Easter. Together we
arise and go towards the coming Easter celebrations, carrying “the joys
and the hopes, the griefs and anxieties of the men and women of this age,
especially those who are poor or in any way afflicted” (cf. Gaudium et Spes,
1).
The Pilgrim
Fr Runaine James Radine
30 March 2025
