First Meditation for the Fourth Week of Lent

A slight surprise awaited Catholics when they came to Holy Mass on Sunday. We saw the priest vested in an uncommon color: rose. Only two times does the Church clothe her priests in this unusual color. Both times it is a symbol for catching our breath, because it marks the midway through a penitential season: Advent or Lent. 

Its meaning goes even deeper. It is a reminder of the Catholic’s obligation to joy. Of course, we know that this is one of the first three of the twelve fruits of the Holy Spirit, and its spiritual roots are that deep – in the heart of the Third Person. Three principal reasons present themselves for joy. The first is resting in the state of sanctifying grace. Therein we become temples of the Holy Spirit. Our Holy Faith teaches us that those temple walls are thick and impregnable, fortifying us against the world, the flesh, and the devil. To change the simile, we are like armored tanks on the battlefield that stretches between Christ and Satan. Who would not rest in a profound joy with that Truth?

Its second meaning has to do with the supernatural virtue of Hope. It assures us that Our Lord will always give us the graces we need for any circumstance, and ultimately to win Heaven. There have been times in our life when we seem to confront obstacles that overwhelm us. Facing them makes us tremble; we feel defeated. Some temptations are like that. They seem so strong that we feel helpless before them. This is especially true when those temptations have felled us often in the past. Yet the virtue of Hope infallibly assures that God will give us the graces we need at the moment we need them so we may capture the triumph. Nothing and no one in the world can guarantee such victory. With conviction of such victory, comes joy.

Finally, our joy comes from Our Lord’s death on Calvary. His suffering and death is divine promise that all our sufferings shall be magnified and transfigured through His own. Moreover, Our Lord’s oblation shatters the gates of Hell that once held us prisoners. We only return to the bondage of sin if we so will. A warning. As Venerable Fulton Sheen teaches: “Christ breaks down no locked doors”. 

Only we can keep the doors of our souls locked in sin. If that is where we choose to be, we shall never know joy.