4th Sunday of Lent (Laetare Sunday)
Readings, Joshua 5:9-12; Psalm 33(34):2-7; 2 Corinthians 5:17-21; Luke 15:1-3,11-32
Laetare Sunday offers a moment of joyful pause amid the Lenten journey, inviting us to look ahead to the fulfillment of God’s promises. In the reading from Joshua, the end of manna and the beginning of eating the produce of Canaan marks a shift from wandering to belonging, from dependence on daily miracles to a deeper participation in the fruits of God’s promise. This transition symbolizes not an absence of God, but a new phase of His faithful accompaniment. Likewise, Lent calls us to leave behind the wilderness of sin and to enter the land of reconciliation, as Paul urges in his letter to the Corinthians: “Be reconciled to God.” Repentance is our way of stepping into this promised land—not only a turning away from sin, but a stepping into maturity, trust, and a life sustained by grace. Like the prodigal son in Luke’s Gospel, we are invited to return home, where the Father waits not with reproach, but with a feast. Let’s reflect: Lent is embracing the joy of reconciliation by penitence.
Don Giorgio