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We are just over half way through Lent, and Laetare Sunday has just celebrated the fact. The vestments at Mass were not a Lenten deep purple, but paler and whiter: the books call the colour “rose”. The opening antiphon at Mass didn’t tell us to repent or be sad: it said “be filled with joy”. Laetare Ierusalem, it said in Latin – which is how this Sunday got its name. Even the short reading at Lauds (from the prophet Nehemiah) hammered the point home:

This day is sacred to the Lord your God. Do not be mournful, do not weep. For this day is sacred to our Lord. Do not be sad: the joy of the Lord is your stronghold.

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