Laetare Sunday: Rejoice!

Laetare Sunday marked the mid-point of the Church's season of Lent. Vestments turned from penitential purple to joyous rose and the liturgy was filled with the theme of rejoicing. It was as though we the penitents were given a cool drink of water on our journey through the desert. Rejoice! Keep going! As Father admonished the faithful in his homily, if you have made a fruitful Lent thus far, rejoice and persevere, for you are ever closer to Easter! And if your Lent has not been as fruitful as you would hope, rejoice! You still have time and opportunity to set things right with penitential practices.

Even God's creation seems to be crying, rejoice! It is that time of year that the sun peeks out occasionally, giving a hint of the brightness and warmth of spring soon to come. But even when the clouds, the chill temperatures, the sometimes-still slushy showers would tell us we are yet mid-winter, the birds from their nests seem to shun purple and don rose as they are heard singing their own solemn Laetare hymn.

Certainly we must give thanks to the Lord, for He is good; His mercy endureth forever... even amidst the long days of Lent!

In the spirit of the day St. Mary's Assumption held their Annual Laetare Dinner Theater last night, their 13th such event benefitting Queen of the Holy Rosary Academy. Mrs. Hilary Flanery directed the Queen's Players in "The Curious Savage", a comedy in two acts. And it was a wonderful evening.

Miss Jane Binsfeld was a delight in the lead role as Ethel Savage, the blue-haired matriarch and wealthy widow whose two grown children (played most convincingly by Mr. Steve Crouse and Miss Christine George) love her only for the money they hope to get from her. Mrs. Savage, though she is anything but crazy, is sent by her children to The Cloisters, a home for the mentally imbalanced, while the younger Savages hope to take possession of her fortune once she is institutionalized. The Cloisters introduces us to several endearing, if a tad out-of-touch, characters who collectively foil the money-seekers' plans, all the while keeping the audience in stitches with their individual (and oft-hilarious) foibles.  We were even surprised with an impromptu cameo role by Fr. Frank Kurtz whose own comic relief delighted the crowd while challenging the cast to remain in character.

Bravo, Queen's Players and Mrs. Flanery, and bravo too, to all those behind-the-scenes who worked tirelessly these past few months to bring us another wonderful production.

A delicious dinner, a superbly-acted play, and mingling and visiting among good friends old and new made for a most enjoyable way to spend our Laetare Sunday, and we look forward to many more annual Dinner Theaters to come.

And so, though the song birds will undoubtedly keep on singing their joyful songs, alas, it is still Lent. But we awake this morning, hopefully refueled to renew/continue/persevere in our promises and acts of penance as we consider and endure Our Lord's journey to His Cross.

As it was so aptly put in the Play program:

In a dear rout of loneliness
How life again sang sweet
When fasting arms knew banqueting
And avid eyes could feast;
And the long Lent of love was eased
For one Laetare Day.
But afterwards came Lent again:
Again the fasting way.

God bless you with a holy and fruitful Lent.... Easter draweth nigh!