When I was a young boy, I remember a family friend named Ann, but we all called her Annie-Mae. She was from New York, and she would come visit the family from time to time. As long as I could remember, she would always bring gifts for my brother and I. And she spent a good amount of time with us during our younger years. As young boys, we began to trust her and look forward to her visits. I do remember having conversations with her, and she would impart her advice on challenges that only a young boy could understand. But I remember how patient and caring she was, taking the time to listen and offer her perspective on life. It had a dramatic impact on me because she served as a kind of friend and confidant, someone I could trust and rely upon who had a natural wisdom of life. She was a good friend and role model. But she was more than just a friend. Her contribution to my early years was significant because she was a kind of witness to what life was about. In addition to my parents, who taught me and provided for my early formation and upbringing, Annie-Mae was like a second mother. As I write this article, I cannot help but remember the fond memories I had with Annie-Mae and how she really cared for us. To this day, I believe our lives have been deeply impacted by the witness of her way of life.
I share this experience with you because I have seen first-hand the power of witness and passing on a way of life. A man who I have come to respect over the years is Pope St. Paul VI, who famously wrote, “Modern man more willingly listens to witnesses than teachers, and if they do listen to teachers it is because they are witnesses” (Evangelii Nuntiandi, 41). What the world needs is witnesses more than those who simply impart knowledge. To be a witness means that we buy into the very message we proclaim. A witness both embodies and lives out the very truths that he or she teaches.
When we consider some of the greatest figures in history, we think of names like Aristotle, Christopher Columbus, Michelangelo, Ludwig Von Beethoven, Thomas Edison, and Winston Churchill. They did not just achieve something, but left something behind. They were leaders in their own realm, and yet a kind of legacy follows them because of what they brought to the world. And with our recent celebration of our nations Independence Day, I cannot help but think of our founding fathers like George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, and Benjamin Franklin. Because of their vision and what they fought for, our nation prides itself on the freedoms we enjoy. In the words of the Declaration of Independence, we read, “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.” What inspired the writers of the Declaration of Independence was the humble recognition that inscribed upon the hearts of every man and woman there is a natural and inborn dignity that must be respected. These founding fathers of our nation bore a kind of witness to the truths that they fought for and defended.
There are many stories in the Bible where men and women become witnesses more than simply teachers. A favorite story of mine is the encounter between St. Peter and Jesus after his resurrection. After appearing to his disciples along the seashore of Tiberias, Jesus invites them to breakfast. Turning to Peter, Jesus asks him three time, “Simon, son of John, do you love me?” This is more than a simple interrogation. Peter had denied Jesus three time during his crucifixion, and now Jesus is asking him to re-affirm his commitment in order that he might follow him and feed the sheep entrusted to his care. This passage is significant, because it reveals something of what it means to be a witness. A witness must be willing to undergo conversion. Conversion is a process by which we turn our direction and attention from one way of thinking, being, and doing to another way of thinking, being, and doing. Conversion involves a turning around, a changing, and a transformation. But conversion does not occur without our permission. Real and authentic conversion always involves a voluntary turning away from sin, death, and evil towards grace, goodness, virtue and eternal life. It does not come from our initiative. The initiative is purely His. However, he never enters into our lives without first inviting us into relationship. Peter experienced conversion from his encounter with Jesus on the seashore. And in a way, this same passage invites us into a similar encounter. Perhaps, we can read Christ’s three questions to Peter as being said to us.
So, if we want to be true witnesses, we need to pray for conversion. Conversion is not a one-time thing. It is a life-long undertaking. It is an ongoing process that seeks to always grow, to know more, and to allow ourselves to be led by the Good Shepherd Jesus Christ. Conversion is an integral and necessary part of witnessing to the Truth. And so, we should pray for conversion within ourselves along with conversion within our families, our community, our nation, and the whole world.
Conversion within the Christian faith always involves a four-step process: 1. encountering Jesus Christ, 2. invitation to relationship with Him, 3. consenting to enter into this relationship, and 4. a true and sincere discipleship on mission. We cannot be disciples of Christ on mission if we have not first consented to enter into relationship with him. We cannot consent to enter into relationship without first being invited. And we cannot be invited if we have not first had a real encounter with him.
After Christ died, rose from the dead, and entered into Heaven at his glorious ascension, the Apostles and disciples of Jesus bore true and authentic witness to all corners of the earth. Many people, both gentile and Jew, who had never heard of the life and achievements of Jesus received the witness of his life through the personal eye-witness testimony of these disciples. These disciples of Christ, many of whom received the martyrs crown, themselves must have experienced real conversion in order to boldly proclaim the message of the Gospel.
Our modern world needs authentic witnesses to the truth of life. It has been almost two thousand years now since Jesus walked the earth, and yet his message is alive in the hearts of so many believers. We who profess Christ are his feet, his hands, his eyes, and his mouth. We are his feet, because we seek to bring the message of the Gospel to those who have not encountered him. We are his hands, because through our charitable work and tireless efforts to show love in a world that desperately needs the love of God, we make the kingdom of God present and relevant. We are his eyes, because we seek to guide others along the path of truth and goodness. And we are his mouth, because by our insistent need to teach, instruct, and guide by what we say, we are speaking only the truth. In all these ways, we are seeking to be witnesses.
Multiple times in the Gospels, Jesus exhorts his disciples to bear witness. He says things like, “ You are the salt of the earth; but if salt has lost its taste, how shall its saltiness be restored?” (Mt. 5:13) or “ You are the light of the world…Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven”
(Mt. 5:14,16). He points out our close relationship with him when he says, “ I am the vine, you are the branches. He who abides in me, and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit” (Jn. 15:5). The fact that we are being sent is made clear when he says, “ Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, even so I send you” (Jn. 20:21). Speaking a language similar to a laborer in a vineyard, Jesus tells his seventy-two disciples before sending them off, “ The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few.” In all these accounts, Jesus is sending out his followers to go and announce the kingdom of God in our midst.
As a priest, I love to visit families. I enjoy getting to know people in our community and discover their way of life, the challenges they experience, and the things that bring them real joy. But in my experience, I have also noticed the challenges that families face in the modern world. This would include the culture we live in, which at times can be very anti-Christian. Other issues that families face include divorce or lack of effective communication, lack of discipline within the home, financial pressures, an unhealthy balance between work and home life, and materialism. In addition to these, families can also experience division, disagreement, and the tensions that arise from the responsibilities of life. All these factors, to some extent, call for a need to understand the underlying root problem that threaten good family life.
But the glue that holds families together is a real and active faith life. Every battle has a front line, and the front lines of the struggle for faith occurs in our homes and within our families. If we want to be witnesses of the faith, we need to witness first to our families. Society needs good husbands and wives, good mothers and fathers, good brothers and sisters. If we seek to live the faith beginning in our homes, that becomes the seedbed for experiencing a real encounter with Christ that brings about conversion that then blossoms into becoming authentic witnesses.
The struggle is real, but the love and grace of God is just as real. We cannot be afraid of the challenges that present themselves to us, but we can choose to face them head on. Being a witness involves being bold, brave, and open minded. St. Paul writes in his letter to the Ephesians, “ For we are not contending against flesh and blood, but against the principalities, against the powers, and the world rulers of this present darkness, against the spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places. Therefore take the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand. Stand therefore, having fastened the belt of truth around your waist, and having put on the breastplate of righteousness, and having shod your feet with the equipment of the gospel of peace; besides all these, taking the shield of faith, with which you can quench all the flaming darts of the Evil One. And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God. Pray at all times in the Spirit, with all prayer and supplication” (Eph. 6:12-18). If we are willing to fight for the things that really matter in this life, we cannot forget that it all begins with an encounter that leads us to become living testimonies and witnesses of the truth.
Fr. Jonathan Phillips currently serves as pastor of St. Michael’s Catholic Church here in Levelland. He was ordained to the priesthood in 2016, and he currently serves as the president of the Levelland Ministerial Alliance.