Well, in the Latin Rite the dark purple is the color signifying penance and preparation. Advent and Lent do prepare for major events in the Church calender, namely Christmas and Easter where the lighter and bright colors of white and gold are used. I believe the rose color is allowed a couple of Sundays before each feast to signify a slight lightening of the "dark" mood of penatential (sp?) preparation as you look to the major feast to occur. Sort of like our Lord's transfiguration before His Passion and eventual Resurrection.
Since Liturgy and Faith reinforce the other, proper catechesis with decent material would help in the explanations. Of course, this has been a huge problem these last 40+ years. But with newer and more orthodox Catholic Bishops and Priests leading the way as the Teachers they are meant to be, better catechetical programs may be on the way for the newer generation. Won't happen overnight...
Sorta gets to the whole point of the article. Our Faith is more than an intellectual exercise of belief. It is a surrender to follow a Person Who is the Way, Truth, and Life. It involves our whole being, and since by nature we are social beings, the rise and development of customs and traditions surrounding our lives to deepen our life of Faith is natural and necessary. This process is called "culture". The weakening of traditions and customs goes hand in hand with a weakening of the Faith in our lives. We, first and foremost, have a crisis in the Church of a lack of, as you said, will-power. The will to be holy! Lack of holiness is the source of all the problems in the Church, and therefore secular society in general. I find the majority of Catholics and other Christians (myself included) to tend to indifference and mediocrity. Our society demands it of us. This opens the door for the small but effective leftist/liberal groups to have caused the damage that they have, often with good intentions, over the past generation. Because of the loss of identity, many future Catholics have been "aborted" from the Church, having no identity with Her and lacking the capability for zeal for holiness because the Gospel has not been effectively preached to them through all levels of our common social institutions meant to do just that (family, parish, etc.). However, since Truth always beckons us to wisdom, many will wake up and search, with little help, for her. And they eventually find her. And some of them will respond to the call to Religious Life - orthodox Religious Life. And they will be zealous for Truth and Holiness. And they will be the new Teachers of the Faith and draw more people to the Church. And this cycle, which has happened before in the history of the Church (and Israel), will climb back up to the top once more with the Holy Spirit leading us and calling us to holiness.
Yes, but WHY? Why is this? And why can't we answer right off the tops of our heads like we should be able to.
Right -- rose used to be the liturgical color for Gaudete (rejoice) Sunday (third Sunday in Advent) and Laetare (rejoice) Sunday (fourth Sunday in Lent) when we were called to, well, rejoice even in the midst of sorrow. I haven't seen rose vestments in decades, though the advent candles still have the rose candle for the third week (though I wouldn't know why if I hadn't gone to decent Catholic schools in the late 50s and early 60s -- before the deluge, so to speak.