The fourth, or middle, Sunday of Lent, so called from the first words of the Introit at Mass, "Laetare Jerusalem" — "Rejoice, O Jerusalem". During the first six or seven centuries the season of Lent commenced on the Sunday following Quinquagesima, and thus comprised only thirty-six fasting days. To these were afterwards added the four days preceding the first Sunday, in order to make up the forty days' fast, and one of the earliest liturgical notices of these extra days occurs in the special Gospels assigned to them in a Toulon manuscript of 714.

The late Father Raymond Brown, Sulpician priest, professor and Biblical scholar, speaks in his commentary on this Sunday’s Gospel about how “we come to believe in Jesus even when there are lots of reasons we can find not to believe in Him,” and uses this gospel to highlight our lives as a sign of a well of “living water.” But first, on the Third Sunday of Lent we begin the Scrutiny’s—the Rite of RCIA—when the unbaptized that are to be baptized on Easter leave the Church and go into deeper study while we hear Sacred Scripture

Mrs. Agnes (Kurt) Dickenson was nominated and has been accepted by Archbishop Leonard P. Blair to receive the Archdiocese of Hartford’s Saint Joseph Medal of Appreciation Award for 2017. The award ceremony comprises a Liturgy of the Word at 3 p.m. on Sunday March 19th at the Cathedral of Saint Joseph and all are invited

Ash Wednesday, 1 March, begins the Season of Lent—a Catholic liturgical season which this year runs from the first of March and ends at sundown on Holy Thursday, 13 April. Liturgically, there are no flowers in Lent save for Laetare (Latin for “rejoice”)Sunday, the Fourth Sunday of Lent, and the liturgical color of the season is violet, and musically speaking our tone is more somber, again except for Laetare Sunday.

Ash Wednesday and Good Friday are obligatory days of fasting and abstinence for Catholics. In addition, Fridays during Lent are obligatory days of abstinence. For members of the Latin (Roman Catholic) Catholic Church, the norms on fasting are obligatory from age 18 until age 59. When fasting, a person is permitted to eat one full meal, as well as two smaller meals that together are not equal to a full meal.