Rejoice, O Jerusalem! Exult with joy, you that have been in sorrow!
Introit – Isaiah 66:10
In the heart of Lent, the Church invites Her children to joy (the purple vestments give way to rose vestments). Even as they weep for their sins, even as the time of the Passion draws near, when we will see Jesus humiliated, mocked, despised, the Church has Christians sing on this Sunday: Rejoice, O Jerusalem! Exult with joy, you that have been in sorrow! The joy of today may seem out of place. Yet it is very legitimate, because it is an effect of the increase of charity in us. As St. Thomas Aquinas explains, the supernatural virtue of charity has for interior fruit both peace and joy. By our Lenten efforts, we have weakened the old man in us and developed our union with God. That of itself is already a source of joy. We are happy to have pleased our Lord and to have consoled our Lady. Moreover, we can feel Easter approaching! Already we begin to glimpse from afar the resurrection of our Lord. It is not encore the full joy that we are going to experience at Easter, but it is the beginning of that joy. That joy stimulates our courage and strengthens us in our desire to remain faithful to our resolutions. Lord Jesus, for more than three weeks now I have been drawing nearer to You, with Your help. Today, I promise You to try to take greater care in my thanksgiving after Mass. Moreover, I want to do everything that depends on me to spend this day in peace and joy. Help me to pursue my efforts all the way to Easter and beyond, so that I might one day hear You say to me, “Because thou hast been faithful over a few things, I will set thee over many; enter into the joy of thy Master” (Mt. 25:21).
(Taken from Toward Easter by Fr. Patrick Troadec)
Traditional Thomistic Catholic 