Deacon Ray Ortman
“I solemnly swear to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the Truth. So help
me God.” If you’ve ever been involved in a court case, you will know that is the oath
that witnesses take before testifying. But what it means to be a “witness?”
In the first sense, a witness is one who observes. All of us are witnesses, in that
sense: we observe countless things and events that happen around us every day.
In a second sense, a witness is one who both observes and then later recounts their
observation of factual things or events to another, like a witness in court testifying to
what they saw and heard. To be a good testimonial witness requires also having been
a good witness in the observational sense by paying close attention.
Finally, to witness also can mean, in a third sense, to share a conviction or belief that
something is true based upon observation, experience or analysis. Again, observation
is essential for persuasive witness testimony in this sense, but more than that, one
must first really believe a conclusion to be true before one can credibly say that it is.
To give a biblical analogy, Peter was a witness of what he heard and saw Jesus say
and do, in that he actually heard and saw it. Peter also was a witness when he later
recollected and spoke of those things to thousands of other people. Finally, Peter was
a witness in the third sense when — based on what he observed and came to believe
— he shared his conviction that Jesus was the Christ, the Son of God. Peter would
have been useless as a preacher if he did not believe what he preached.
There is also a way of witnessing in the third sense that can be expressed without
words. When Jesus asked Peter if he loved Him, and Peter said yes, Jesus said show
me: let your actions be your testimony. Actions speak louder than words. If how we
act does not match what we say, then our testimony will ring hollow. Sometimes, mere
presence alone can speak more eloquently than either words or actions. Such as the
silent vigil of John, Mary and the other women at the foot of the Cross — by which they
witnessed their faith and love for Jesus. Or the witness of the martyrs who, by their
silent acceptance of persecution and death, proclaimed their faith in Jesus more loudly
than any evangelist ever did, with or without a microphone.
The word “witness” in the First Reading comes from the same Greek word as the word
“martyr.” To be a witness is to be a martyr. But what does that mean for us?
Luke begins Acts with an incorporation by reference of all that Jesus said and did in
the Gospel. By Luke’s witness, Theophilus became an observational witness to what
Jesus said and did. By extension, we also are observational witnesses of what we
have read and heard and experienced of Jesus. Of course, it is up to us whether we
are really paying attention. Likewise, the disciples observed the Risen Christ when
Jesus appeared to them alive after His death. No doubt they were paying VERY close
attention. But even so, they were not yet ready to be effective testimonial witnesses for
SO HELP ME GOD
Christ based on the evidence of their eyes and ears. How do we know this? Because
the Gospel says that even though they saw Jesus alive, they still doubted. And a
witness who is not sure of their testimony will wither under cross-examination.
Knowing this, Jesus told them to wait. Perhaps this was a variant of the adage, “think
before you speak.” Or perhaps it meant wait because you still have things to learn.
But I think it was more than that. The quintessential witness of Jesus to the world was
the witness of God-in-the-flesh: God with us. Emmanuel. For that witness to continue
to spread throughout the world, it would require the same mysterious paradigm of God-
with-us. But with Jesus now ascended to Heaven, who was left to be a witness of God
in the flesh? No one, yet. But that would soon change.
The Apostles, the Church, and all of us, became witnesses of God in the flesh
beginning at Pentecost, or in our case, at the moment of our baptism. In other words,
without saying or doing anything — by virtue of the indwelling of the Holy Spirit within
us — we are God’s witnesses in the world. Being a witness of God, to God, for God,
therefore, is first and foremost our IDENTITY. It is fundamentally something we are —
because of what God did for us and is doing in us — even before we say or do
anything for God. We are all God’s witnesses! But the impact of our witnessing does
depend on us too. To be recognized as God’s witnesses and ambassadors by others,
then our actions and our words should match that identity. And for that to happen, we
need to ask ourselves what we really believe. If we believe it in our hearts, then we
cannot help but to witness it powerfully in what we say and do. If we don’t believe it,
that also will be obvious, and our testimony will suffer. It might even hurt our case.
Thousands of God’s witnesses gathered yesterday in Saint Paul, as part of the
Archdiocesan synod evangelization initiative. For weeks they have been waiting in
observation and prayer before being sent out as witnesses for God. But in a real way,
the same is true of everyone here today as well. We have been waiting, observing,
listening to God’s word, and witnessing to our faith in many ways in our lives, not least
of which is our presence together here today. Parents and catechists, you have been
proclaiming the faith to your children and the children of this community, teaching them
to love the God who first loved us. We also boldly proclaim our faith by feeding the
hungry, comforting the mourning, accompanying the lonely, acting as peacemakers,
giving and forgiving, and caring for strangers in need.
Witnessing doesn’t happen all at once; witnessing doesn’t depend on having the right
words to say. The witness of our faith is nothing less than our way of life as we walk by
faith, filled with the presence of our God who loves us to death. When we live as
martyrs — when we accept the death of ourselves too (whether actual or figurative) —
then the sacrifice of our time, resources, intellect, effort and comfort in God’s service is
SO HELP ME GOD
the testimony that rings true. Testimony worthy of the power of God who lives in us.
I know that I cannot testify persuasively or truly without God’s help. So help me, God!
