Dear Father: Why is my priest wearing pink?

Dear Father: Why is my priest wearing pink?

On the third Sunday of Advent, there is nothing more annoying than someone coming to the door of the church after Mass, pointing to your vestments and saying, “Nice pink, Father.” In my mind, I am screaming like a hyena in a cage, “It’s not pink! It’s rose!”

Don’t get me wrong, I am man enough to wear pink. However, our liturgical colors include green, red, white, purple and even black, but “pink” is not one of the colors we use.

So am I splitting hairs in my color terminology? Does rose vs. pink really matter? I think it does.

I’m not an artist, but when I was a child and got out my trusty Crayola box, I would mix purple with red and my result was rose. I even read where some colorologists (no I didn’t make that up — it’s a profession) say that  the color pink doesn’t even exist. So,  perhaps pink is   just a weaker version of red or what happens when the crayon barely touches the white paper.

Now that I’ve established the difference between pink and rose, the next questions are why that color and why do we wear it on the Third Sunday of Advent? (Priests also wear rose-colored vestments on the Fourth Sunday of Lent) The Third Sunday of Advent is known as “Gaudete Sunday” or “Rejoice Sunday.” We are reminded of St. Paul’s Letter to the Philippians that reads, “Rejoice in the Lord always; again I say, rejoice. Indeed, the Lord is near.” _{(Phil 4:4-5)} On this Sunday, we are reminded that the birth of the Lord is growing closer.

The color rose makes sense theologically once we dive deeper into the meaning of “Gaudete Sunday.” Advent, which means “coming,” is a time of prayer  and penitence leading to the “coming” of the Lord at Christmas. The vestment color for the Advent season is purple, with the exception  of  “Gaudete Sunday.” So we might call the four weeks of Advent a time of “purpleness” as we grow closer towards the coming of the “Light of the World.” The color rose (most notably seen as the stand-out candle in a traditional Advent wreath) sheds a little brightness on the “purpleness” to remind us that the coming of the Lord is near, and we shouldn’t forget that.

However, while we commonly relate Advent to the coming of Christ at Christmas, the liturgical season, and beginning of a new Church year, also is pointing to a time when Christ will come again at the end of time. In the Scriptures at the time of the Ascension of the Lord, we read, “Men of Galilee, why do you stand looking into the sky? This Jesus, who has been taken up from you into heaven, will come in just the same way as you have watched him go into heaven.” _{(Acts 1:11)} So, wouldn’t that suggest that every day is a sort-of “Advent day”?

But in the midst of the prayer and penitence that we should undertake as we await the Savior to return again, we must always remember the joy that will come that  day. Therefore, we must also remember that there is joy even during the “purpleness” of our lives every day.

So, it stands to reason that every day is rose, doesn’t it?

Praised be Jesus Christ!