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Thursday, April 19, 2001 IFnitih Alii’yei The Southern Cross, Page 9
Witnesses to the conviction that life is not a cruel joke
By Theresa Sanders
Catholic News Service
I hate to fly. Well, more precisely,
hate taking off and landing — statis-
*ically the most dangerous parts of
any flight.
Not long ago I was on my way to
Mexico, and, as usual, when I heard
the plane’s engines begin to roar, I
gripped the armrest next to me till my
knuckles turned white. Noticing my
panic, the man in the seat next to me
said quietly in Spanish, “Everything
^is in God’s hands.” Instantly I relaxed.
wThe man’s calm presence and un
troubled spirit had a powerful impact.
Witnessing can be like that. We
witness to Easter faith. But it doesn’t
have to happen in spectacular ways.
I remember Bessie, a woman who
used to shop at the secondhand store
where I was a volunteer.
Bessie was elderly and poor, yet
every day she visited the shop looking
for children’s books in good condition.
She bought the books to give to the
^ihildren living in her apartment
building. It was a small gesture, but I
know it made a world of difference
that those children had books they
could call their own.
Or I think of a priest who lived in
one of Washington’s poorer areas.
People knocked on his door day and
night looking for help. Children came
for crackers and oranges, and moth-
Aprs came for a few dollars to buy dia
pers and milk.
One day a man came to this priest’s
door saying he was cold and needed a
sweater. The priest ran upstairs and
brought down a thick cotton
sweatshirt that I knew he liked very
much. When I asked later why he
gave away his favorite sweatshirt, he
replied, “Well, I don’t want to think
that I value a piece of clothing more
than the person at my door.”
Fundamentally, Easter faith is the
conviction that love is stronger than
death. It’s the belief that life is not, as
Shakespeare’s Macbeth says, a tale
told by an idiot, full of sound and fury,
when, reading the day’s headlines, I
wonder why we even bother proclaim
ing that “he is risen!” After all, the
shootings go on, and the wars.
Then I think of those parents I read
about recently,
the parents of a
young woman
killed during a
riot in South Af
rica. Since losing
their daughter,
the two have dedi
cated their lives
to helping poor
people in that
country gain eco
nomic opportunities.
And I think of the brother of a man
who was severely injured when some
one opened fire a few years ago at the
Empire State Building. After the
shooting, the brother left his high-
profile job with an advertising agency
to found an organization promoting
gun safety.
Then there’s the young Vietnamese
woman whose picture appeared
around the world years ago. A photog
rapher caught her as she ran naked
and screaming from her bombed-out
village, her clothing burned off by na
palm. This woman now lives in
Canada and speaks
to audiences about
forgiveness and
love.
Aren’t these peo
ple giving witness?
Witnessing to
Easter faith is
mostly just the day-
to-day refusal to
give up hope. It’s the woman who
takes care of her grandchildren, the
man who writes checks to charities in
need, the teacher who tries anything
and everything to get students to
read.
It’s not much. On the other hand,
it’s pretty much everything.
(Sanders is associate professor of
theology at Georgetown University.)
“W
itnessing to Easter faith
is ... the teacher who tries
anything and everything to
get students to read.”
CNS photo by Bill Wittman
signifying nothing. It’s the confidence
that even the smallest gestures of love
will not go to waste.
But witnessing to such Easter faith
is not always easy. There are times
FAITH IN THE MARKETPLACE
How do you witness to faith? Why do you call this “witnessing”?
“My witness to faith is just living the best life I can live, being the best person I can be. I think that we are all
called to do this. We ‘witness’ by the way we live our lives.” — Jacquie Francis, Portsmouth, R.I.
“I witness to faith through my church activities — by doing whatever I can, whenever I can. I call this ‘witnessing’
because I’m doing what I believe, and if people see me doing this they understand that I am trying to live my faith.”
— John Brafchak, McMechen, W.Va.
“By being myself and trying to do what I am called to do in my daily living; to be aware of the presence of God in
everyday life. I suppose this is ‘witnessing’ because who we are and what we do rubs off on people, and this is how we
can touch people for God.” — Father Tim Deasy, Daphne, Ala.
An upcoming edition asks: How would you tell a young person about the church’s importance to you? If you would like to respond
for possible publication, please write: Faith Alive! 3211 Fourth St. N.E., Washington, D.C: 20017-1100.
Witnesses need both faith and love
By Father Eugene LaVerdiere, SSS
Catholic News Service
w e need both faith and love to
®|ive witness to the risen Lord in our
culture.
—Witnessing to the risen Lord
means sharing our Christian faith.
—Witnessing also means loving ev
ery person for whom Jesus Christ died.
With faith and love, we can also be
personal witnesses of Christian hope.
But how?
You know, from our warm living
rooms we watch the TV news and see
all those around the world who have
9>o shelter, the millions who are cold,
hungry, thirsty and sick.
In our cities, many people sleep
through the night on streets and in
parks — even in wealthy neighbor
hoods.
We have to remember that the
risen Lord is not only “our” Lord, hut
the Lord of all, including the poor and
the wealthy, unborn children, young
^hildren and old people, every race
and nationality.
How do we give witness to the risen
Lord? There are so many ways.
Matthew’s Gospel offers insight here.
Matthew tells us that while Jesus
was sitting on the Mount of Olives the
disciples came to him, and Jesus
spoke to them privately. He said that
“when the Son of Man comes in his
glory,” he will separate the sheep from
the goats, and he then will speak to
the righteous, saying:
“For I was hungry and you gave me
food, I was thirsty and you gave me
drink, a stranger and you welcomed
me, naked and you clothed me, ill and
you cared for me, in prison and you
visited me” (Mt 25). The righteous
then ask, “Lord, when did we see you
hungry and feed you?” He answers,
“Amen, I say to you, whatever you did
for one of these least brothers of mine,
you did for me” (Mt 25).
Today, after 20 centuries, the risen
All contents copyright©2001 by CNS
alive
Lord’s challenge is the same: to give
witness in our modern culture.
We give witness while handing
pocket change to homeless people if we
also speak with them and thus ex
press respect for them. They are
lonely, craving conversation.
For me, the many people I see in
subway trains reading the Bible and
praying the Psalms are witnesses of
the risen Lord. And isn’t it a form of
witness to make the sign of the cross
in a restaurant before eating?
We give witness to our children by
discussing with them the contribu
tions we make to the missions. Chil
dren remember their parents’ words
and actions.
And many lay people are devoting
one year to five years to our missions as
teachers, doctors, farmers, and engi
neers. Their lives are symbols — and
witnesses — of faith, love, and hope.
(Blessed Sacrament Father
LaVerdiere is a Scripture scholar and
senior editor of Emmanuel maga
zine.)
Ina Nutshell
Many are uncomfortable with the notion of themselves as
witnesses of faith.
Both faith and love are needed in order to give witness to the
risen Lord. We witness not to ourselves, but to him.
Christians witness to Easter faith through the day-to-day
refusal to give up hope. The resurrection of Jesus brings faith
that even small gestures of love will not go to waste.