^{Sermon From
4th Sunday In Lent – Laetare Sunday 2013}
We pray for the election of a holy pope, which is so necessary in these times of unprecedented crisis in the Church.  Although we have little confidence in any natural means to accomplish this desire, we place our hope in God and His divine intervention.

This is one of the two days when rose, the liturgical color of mitigated joy, is used.  It is also called the “Day of the Golden Rose.”  On this day a papal procession carried a golden rose, which had been blessed and placed on the altar during the Mass, and gifted this rose to a certain Catholic monarch as a sign of the pope’s favor.

We are given a foretaste of the pleasure and joy of Eternal beatitude with every reception of the Holy Eucharist.  How many people join the Catholic Church for the simple reason that they desire to be intimately united to Christ in this sacrament?

Every part of the Bible is true, but we must remember that it can be interpreted in the literal, the applied and the typical sense.  Events of the New Testament are foreshadowed by the events of the Old Testament.  The readings of the Divine Office this week give an example of the typical sense of Holy Scripture in Moses, who foreshadows Our Lord in our redemption.
#20130310