Today we celebrate Laetare Sunday, which is one of the two Sundays of the year where we use rose vestments, that's r-o-s-e, not p-i-n-k. We do it as a time to rejoice to rejoice even in the middle of our preparation, even in the middle of a season where we are pleading with Jesus to enable us to take up our cross follow Him, where we are pleading with Jesus to deal with our flesh. We pause for a moment and remember that in the midst of everything we do, the bottom line is that we are listening to Good News. The Good News is that God loved the world so much, that that's why He does everything He does. That's why He saved us; that's why He sent us Jesus. That is the fundamental truth that we need to proclaim. That's the Good News. It's not bad news, it's not even bad advice. It is wonderful, life-saving, life-giving news. It's life-giving news that has a price. Everything we are, everything we'll do, everything we want, our entire future-that's what it costs us. But, we give up what we couldn't keep, to receive what Jesus has for us, freely given to us by His own wonderful act. He gives us Himself. That is a cause for rejoicing. Even in the middle of lives that can frequently be difficult, there's always a burst of Hope available for us as followers of Jesus. Because it's Good News. He loves us, He is here, He's come to save us. Proclaiming that Good News can cost us. But whatever price we pay is always worth it.

There's a line in the Gospel about those who don't come into the light because their deeds are evil. The word echoes the sentiment of a person lived long, long ago, who was recorded as one of the first monotheists in history. He was a Pharaoh in Egypt-Amenhotep IV, who took the name Akhenaton and who actually came to the conclusion that there was only one God. He was perhaps the first monotheist in history. During this time people in Egypt believed in many, many gods. It was not safe to simply say: 'I only believe there's one. Even if you were Pharaoh, it was not safe, especially since if you were Pharaoh, you were suppose to be one of those many gods that were believed in. He knew that if he held to this position it would probably cost him his life-and he was right. History has pretty much forgotten about him as the first monotheist. History is much more cognizant of his son Tutankhamen because he had such a fancy tomb. King Tut, the boy king-buried in gold travels the world in his golden sarcophagus so people can see the splendors of Egypt, and forget that what his father believed was far more important than anything King Tut was buried with: that there was only one God. Akhenaton was poisoned because he refused to recant. He was assassinated for believing in one God. He knew that truth has a price sometimes, that you have to be willing to pay that price for your own integrity and for the sake of what it is that you believe. The Good News that God loved the world so much has cost many, many Martyrs through history their lives-because they said there is something that is actually true, it cannot be compromised, it is not some vague gray, it is clearly black and white. God loves the world so much that He sent His only Son. As we celebrate this feast today, as we remember exactly Who Jesus is and what He does for us, then we need to be ready to also lay down our lives for that Gospel . But we need to continue to remind ourselves and to remind each other, that the bottom line is: it is Good News. We don't have a God who sends His angels to us so they can examine our lives in detail because He is looking for an excuse to send us into hell. Our God is looking for an excuse to save us. The tiniest excuse we can give Him. And yet we so often run from everything He wants to give to us, everything He wants to do to bring us more deeply into that Kingdom. Ever since the beginning when Jesus Himself spoke and worked His miracles and proclaimed the Good News people opposed Him, opposed Him because they wanted to hang onto their flesh, their power, and because they wanted to hang onto their favorite sins.

Jesus simply continues to proclaim that Good News. Nicodemus was supposed to know as a teacher in Israel what was going on when you dealt with heavenly things, and he didn't. So God gave him through Jesus' own words that gift of Truth-for God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son. This is the heart of what it means for us to be followers of Jesus. We have chosen to receive the only begotten Son, that we have chosen to surrender to Him, that we have chosen to live for Him, that we want Him to be the center of everything we do, of everything we say, of everything we pray. We recognize that it has a price-but it's a price that's already been paid in a wondrous way, by what Jesus chose to do on the Cross. As we celebrate Rejoicing Sunday, it's a good to rejoice. This color is suppose to be particularly festive in the minds of those liturgical color designers in the Vatican, so we should be festive today. We should rejoice with each other. We can't rejoice so far as to use the 'A' word--but we can still rejoice. We can't use the 'A' word until the Easter Vigil -when the greatest cause for our rejoicing: His solemn resurrection from the dead, is once again proclaimed in our midst. But today we stop and say that it's good to be loved by Jesus,' it's good to be His follower, it's good to be filled with His Spirit, it's good to live in the heart of His Church-receiving His Body and Blood, receiving His Grace and His Mercy-listening to His Holy Word.

These are things that should bring us joy. If they don't, then we should get on our knees and plead with Jesus to change whatever is missing in our hearts that makes the Good News simply a sterile obligation. It is supposed to be Good News and the way Jesus has constructed the human person, its good makes us good. God helps us to appreciate who we are and Who He is. If we do not delight in His presence, then we probably just need more of His presence, and less of our flesh, and less of our selves. We need to be more centered on Him, more focused on Him. We need to walk every day in the fundamental truth of what this Kingdom is all about: that we have a Father Who loves to save; that we have a Son Who does not begrudge being the Savior, but delights in it. Who came into the world not to condemn the world, but that the world might be saved through Him. Let us have the courage to proclaim that Good News. If we have the greatest of all possible Good News and we don't share it, then we are guilty of one of the gravest crimes possible. When those around us die for lack of truth and it was in our possession, how can God not hold us responsible, when we know what is possible in Jesus, when we know what His love and His healing power and the power of His Spirit can accomplish, when we know what the joy of receiving of receiving His Body and Blood can do to the human soul, how can we not share that? When we're surrounded by people leading lives of quiet desperation, how can we refrain from giving them the source of hope?

Let us plead with Jesus today to share with us the depth of His own love, not only for ourselves, but for those around us, that we would love them so much that we would help them to know the only begotten Son of God. It is the greatest gift that we can possibly offer. Let us offer it to all those we meet, family, friends, co-workers, people we come in contact with, people Jesus specifically sends to us just so that they can hear the Good News from us. Let us plead with Him for courage to do just that. What we may experience is that the idea of evangelism usually fills us with terror, for reasons the devil only knows, but that when we actually share the Good News with someone, usually the sharing is not as bad as we were afraid it was going to be. Once in a while somebody actually surrenders and it can be an experience of great joy for us, to watch as Jesus takes possession of one more heart. But we don't do it because it gives us joy. We do it simply because it's the right thing to do, that we who are called by His name should continue to proclaim His Truth.