Witnesses to Jesus
On a recent podcast interview Chad and I conducted several months ago with Fr. Francis Martin, a holy and passionate priest and biblical scholar - he mentioned that in the Gospel of John the word "evangelization" never occurs. But "witness" does. He said, a witness is someone who has been with Jesus and has experienced his power and presence in their life.
One of my friends wrote this about her own experience of being witnessed to-
"Witnesses to Jesus are all around me, in every moment of gladness, every kindness bestowed upon me, every person with beauty in their heart, those that love me and continue to love me in my weakness. These are the witnesses that point to Christ. The most positive witnesses of my experience never come from those who are most learned or who make the best argument. They come, always, from those who live humbly with Jesus, who know Jesus so well that they can speak for Him when I am unable to hear for myself. It is out from behind their eyes that He peers, it is between their arms that He embraces, it is from their lips that He sings His love song to me." Click here for the full text of the reflection.
Wow. That is beautiful. Lord, make us true witnesses to you!
How have you been witnessed to?
What type of person best radiated the character, good news, and promises of Jesus to you?
How so?
Labels: God's love, holiness, witnesses
posted by Pete Ascosi @ 11:23 AM
2 Comments
2 Comments:
I can identify strongly with that reflection... I've found that I've been most influenced by the humble priests who demonstrate God's love so well that you never feel judged or condemned in their presence. Rather, when you come to meet them you see Christ- the Christ that loves you and is eager to build you up and literally dying to let you live more fully!
Speaking of priests being witnesses... when I spoke with Fr. Francis Martin ... I felt like I was being witnessed to as he spoke. It wasn't that he was just a kind and authentic person... He displayed an active relationship with the Father, with Jesus, and the Holy Spirit. He spoke as if the Holy Spirit was tangibly present as we conducted our interview - which - I believe is true too - but, God's presence was just so tangible to him. And he just pointed to HIM - and that is one of the most powerful witnesses.
Kind of like in Acts of the Apostles, "we cannot but speak of what we have seen and heard!"
Yes, Lord, give us that same experience!
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