What’s Your Witness?

‘Saying Grace,’ a famous painting by Norman Rockwell, shows a Mennonite family praying at a restaurant.

This morning I witnessed the coolest thing. My husband and I were on our way to work, winding through the back roads when we saw a strange sight. There in the middle of a lawn was a circle of men in hard hats. Armed with chainsaws and surrounded by bucket trucks it was obvious they were about to begin their work of trimming the surrounding trees. Typical maintenance work right? Here is what was different – they were praying! Yes, they all had their heads bowed in prayer, and some were even on their knees in the grass- praying… My husband looked at me in shock. “Were they praying?” he queried. I nodded in affirmation after yet another look back. Surely it must be a bit intimidating for these tough looking men to humble themselves and ask for divine assistance!

The sight of those men praying leads to reflection… How am I doing in my witness to Catholicism, in my witness to Christ. Do people know that I am a Christian the first time our paths cross? Did I let that woman driving the red Mustang and fixing her makeup into the line of traffic when all I could think about was my irritation towards her? Did I let the struggling Mom with the young children ahead of me in the grocery line when I was in a hurry? Does my first impression make people notice that I was kind, or did they notice how nasty I was?

We make impressions without saying a word. As I ran to catch a connecting flight in Dallas this summer, I witnessed a middle age man dressed in black clerics eating McDonald’s at one of the gates. With a peaceful face he watched the swirling crowds rush around him, and yet he made an impression. He was not afraid to announce to everyone he met via his roman collar that he is dedicated to Christ. By his willingness to stand out in a crowd he was witnessing to the fact that he has dedicated his life to a way of life that is above the norm.

How can we witness to Christ unless it is already a part of who we are? How about a deep relationship with the Lord in prayer? Pope Francis spoke of prayer in a recent interview he did with the publication America. What jumped out at me were his following words “I pray mentally even when I am waiting at the dentist or at other times of the day. “Prayer for me is always a prayer full of memory, of recollection, even the memory of my own history or what the Lord has done in his church or in a particular parish. For me it is the memory of which St. Ignatius speaks in the First Week of the Exercises in the encounter with the merciful Christ crucified. And I ask myself: ‘What have I done for Christ? What am I doing for Christ? What should I do for Christ?”

Radiating Christ would be easy if we were already united with him in prayer. These simple words should challenge us, make us ask each day and in every situation “What should I do for Christ?”

Rachel Zamarron

Rachel Zamarron

Rachel is a wife, Catholic, and cowgirl. Married to her sweetheart Sam, the two of them are enjoying the adventures of life hand-in-hand.

Leave a Replay

1 thought on “What’s Your Witness?”

  1. Thanks for this reminder. We truly do have many opportunities to witness. People are watching, whether we know it or not! With Christ’s help, may we always provide a good witness.

Leave a Comment

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

Sign up for our Newsletter

Click edit button to change this text. Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit