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March 17, 2023“ Rejoice, Jerusalem, and all who love her. Be joyful ... “
This is the beginning of the entrance antiphon of this Sunday’s Mass – Laetare (Rejoice!) Sunday. We are past the midpoint of our Lenten Season where we prepare not only to commemorate the Lord’s Passion and Death but celebrate and rejoice in His Resurrection. As we enter more deeply into the Paschal Mystery and as we know that the Lord God renews us during this sacred season, He sends us His very Spirit to enlighten us, heal us and give us rebirth through the self-giving from the Cross as His Son dies so we may live. God sends us His Spirit. We begin to understand more fully what is meant when the priest greets us by proclaiming, “The Lord be with you” and we respond, “And with your spirit.” On the following page, this sending forth of the Holy Spirit is shared among the priest, minister and the all of us in the assembly as the Lord Jesus is our true light that enlightens His people.
Fr. John Thomas Lane, the Provincial Superior of the Blessed Sacrament Congregation shared with us at our parish Mission/Retreat through the teachings and the life of St. Peter Julian Eymard, Jesus feeds us in the Eucharist from the Cross as we all become self-gift. When we receive Him in the Eucharist, we then give Him to others. In the Eucharist, we receive healing physician that brings us to wholeness of life. Through the Spirit of Truth, and through the
Sacraments of life, Our Lord protects His Church, each of us, from our struggles, from all sinfulness, and from all suffering. And we help Him in His mission of love. As St. Peter Eymard reminds us, to be in Communion with Christ, during this sacred time, and always, by partaking of the Holy Eucharist. By receiving Him in this Divine meal, we dedicate ourselves through the stirring up of the Spirit within us to become the light of life. We become refreshed by the Baptismal waters in which we are all immersed. And, He uses the Lenten Season to help us deepen our love of the Eucharist and the Lord in our lives as He restores us in His life-giving ways.
When the priest begins our dialogue with Our God at Mass and says “The Lord be with you,” and we respond, “And with your spirit,” We ready ourselves to enter together into the Paschal Mystery, the ultimate thanksgiving prayer within our lives as the mystery, through the Holy Spirit, becomes reality. This sacred time of Eucharistic Revival, and in this Lenten Season, let us enter into the Communion with Our Lord, into the mystery that Jesus has provided for us.
Let us be renewed in the Spirit.
Let us truly, REJOICE!
Fr. John