Lindsay Weishar
In his Holy Saturday homily for Easter 2020, Pope Francis called the church to hope:
“So, let us not give in to resignation; let us not place a stone before hope. We can and must hope, because God is faithful. He did not abandon us; he visited us and entered into our situations of pain, anguish and death. His light dispelled the darkness of the tomb: Today he wants that light to penetrate even to the darkest corners of our lives.”
The pope spoke to a world in the throes of pandemic. As we wend our way through this reality that is still very much with us, I’ve found myself needing to remove stones of fear and hopelessness about the future, which I’ve been nibbling like bread in the desert of my heart this Lent.
Lindsay Weishar
By Lindsey Weishar • Catholic News Service • Posted February 19, 2021
I don’t know about you, but I often mentally brace myself for Lent. The season feels so long, so winter-ridden, and in this time of lingering pandemic, especially isolating. Yet, the Online Etymology Dictionary reminds me that Lent comes from an Old English word meaning “lengthening of the day,” “spring.”
Perhaps we’re called to approach Lent not as a marathon of tasks meant to break our will but as a blossoming born of accompanying Christ through the desert, an opportunity to grow in our relationship with him along the way.
Advent Week 4: Jesus always with, and within, us
Lindsey Weishar is a poet and freelance writer from the Diocese of Peoria, Ill. (CNS photo/courtesy Lindsey Weishar)
By Lindsey Weishar • Catholic News Service • Posted December 18, 2020
“Hail, full of grace! The Lord is with you.” Never before have Gabriel’s words struck me as they have this year.
When Gabriel speaks these words to Mary, she responds with perplexity. The divine has broken into her world tremendously. The Lord is about to be with her in the most intimate way he has ever been with a human creature: within her womb.