Fourth Sunday of Lent (Lætáre Sunday) 2026

On this Fourth Sunday of Lent, Lætáre Sunday, Holy Mother Church calls us to rejoice—not in worldly comfort, but in the saving presence of Christ who feeds His people with divine truth and the Holy Eucharist. Through St. Paul’s teaching on the heavenly Jerusalem and the Gospel miracle of the loaves, we are reminded that true freedom and spiritual nourishment come only from fidelity to the unchanging Church and her sacramental life. In an age marked by confusion, modernism, and doctrinal compromise, the faithful must cling firmly to Tradition, recognizing that Christ alone multiplies grace where human strength fails. Even amid penance and trial, we rejoice because the Cross leads to the Resurrection, and the true Church—our Mother—endures, calling all souls back to repentance, reverence, and the fullness of truth.

Transcript

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In the name of the Father, and the Son and the Holy Ghost. Amen. Faithful, the Holy Church today interrupts the austerity of Lent with a word that strikes the soul like light breaking through clouds. Rejoice, O Jerusalem, and come together, all of you that love her. This is not mere sentiment, it is a command. The Church, our mother, commands joy even in penance. Why? Because Lent is not despair, it is an ordered way toward victory. In the epistle we read, But that Jerusalem, which is above, is free, which is our mother. Saint Paul presents a profound allegory. The old law is slavery, the new covenant is freedom. This is not a rejection of the Old Testament, but is a fulfillment in Christ. In our present crisis, where confusion reigns in churches and theology, and there's forty thousand denominations, modernism spreads, and doctrinal clarity is obscured. The faithful must cling to the Jerusalem above, the true church, unchanging, not shifting structures of novelty, but the perennial faith preserved through holy tradition. As taught through the Vatican in exile, the church is visible, hierarchical, and doctrinal, and immutable. The Vatican in exile stands precisely for this principle. The church cannot contradict herself. In the Gospel we read, Jesus therefore took loaves and distributed to them that were sit down. This is a profound mystery. The miracle is not merely about bread. Jesus took some loaves and some bread from the people that were willing to give all they have and multiplied it amazingly. The church fathers teach he multiplied the loaves who multiplies himself daily on the altar. That's from Saint Augustine. And Saint Thomas Aquinas said and reiterated all through his works that Christ feeds not only the body, but the soul unto eternal life. So let's dig a little deeper into the gospel. What do the five lows represent? They represent the insufficiency of man. The five lows represent the five senses. And that's all we have. We think that's amazing, but they represent the poverty of human nature. We are not God. We are not angels. We are not saints in heaven yet. Left to ourselves, we cannot feed even a fraction of the soul's hunger. But in Christ, scarcity becomes abundance, weakness becomes grace. Humanity is elevated by divine life. What do the twelve baskets represent? Remember, there were twelve baskets in our gospel today. The twelve baskets symbolize the apostolic church, the original church, and the superabundance of grace giving unto it. The church never runs out of truth. Only men abandon that truth. There's a crisis in our age. Beloved faithful, we live in a time where truth is relativized. It's what's relative to me. Doctrine is reinterpreted and reinvented. The Mass is treated as a community meal rather than a sacrifice. That is exactly what Pope Saint Pius X warned against in his many writings against modernism. He said, and hear me closely, modernism is the synthesis of all heresies. So what is the clarity of our church? The crisis is not merely moral, it is doctrinal and liturgical. When the Eucharist is misunderstood, souls starve. When authority is corrupted, confusion spreads. When holy tradition is abandoned, identity collapses. Why do we wear rose vestments today? Why do we wear these rose pink colored vestments in the middle of Lent? It's a softening of violet. Why? Because we see the cross ahead, but also the resurrection beyond. Joy is not absent in suffering. Joy is the presence of Christ in suffering. From the Baltimore Catechism, we read, the Holy Eucharist is the body and blood, soul and divinity of Jesus Christ under the appearances of bread and wine. And from the catechism of Trent, what we all should be leaning into daily, it says, in this sacrament is contained truly, really, and substantially the body and blood of our Lord. This is not symbolic. This is not metaphor. This is God Himself given as food. So what can you do every day, faithful? Examine your hunger. Do you crave God or distractions? Return to confession, reverent mass attendance, and daily prayer. Fast not only from food, but fast from worldliness. For our beloved clergy in the Vatican in exile, preach the hard truths. Restore reverence in the liturgy. Be shepherds, not administrators. Ezekiel warns in the scripture, woe to the shepherds that feed themselves. For our bishops, guard doctrine without compromise. Reject novelty that contradicts tradition. And remember, you are the successors of the apostles, not innovators. Begin each day an offering of your suffering. Practice silence, discipline, charity rooted in truth. Meditate daily on the passion of Christ, especially during this Lenten season. In this Lenten season, let us also cry Latare, rejoice. And remember to not rejoice as the world rejoices. Rejoice because Christ feeds you, Christ sustains you, Christ is conquered. Even now, the true Jerusalem remains, and she is your mother. O Lord Jesus Christ, who dost multiply the loaves and feed the multitude, feed our starving souls with thy truth, strengthen thy church in trial, restore reverence, doctrine, and holiness, and grant that we may rejoice not in the world, but in thee alone. In the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost. Amen.