I just came back from a youth conference for teens (I was a chaperone at Steubenville Rochester, #steubieroch ) and I was keenly reminded of the power of witness.
First, I need to say–this is one of the smaller conferences in the Steubenville youth conference realm (we had 1500) and any conference that welcomes people to know Jesus Christ, to worship, to adore, to reconcile (we had 80% of people there receive sacramental reconciliation!!!), to friendship, and to communion is a WIN. I’m always very impressed with the space they create to welcome God and welcome young people.
But this time, I was a little reflective. I was wondering what made it work, and feel “different”: after all, adoration is available in many churches, as well as Mass, reconciliation, and sometimes even praise and worship music. It was something else. I think it boils down to the power of witness.
I saw at least four types of witness:
The witness of the yes. Some of you know those gathered are invited to stand up if they are considering a vocation to the consecrated life. They first asked the women to stand up. We smiled, cheered, applauded, and they are encouraged to be brave and walk to the front to receive a blessing for their discernment. And there was a girl, a young woman…she didn’t shyly walk to the front, as many did, God bless them. She ran. She danced. She waved her arms. If I had done all that, I would have tripped! But it worked for her…and she was the absolute embodiment of JOY. (They received the blessing and she did the same run/dance/wave back to her seat. It was awesome. I expect a convent to receive a call within a day.) This embodiment was her witness to the rest of the people there, and it was moving. We should all run to the Lord that way.
The witness of shared life stories. Of course, there are talks in this conference, and they tend to be witness-based. Getting on a stage and sharing your spiritual life for 40 minutes isn’t everyone’s gift, but these speakers are consistently strong speakers who mix in healthy humor and serious spirituality. But mostly, they share in the most human way in the book: my story is your story, because God’s story is our story. I invite you to deliberately make God’s story your story. I did, and here is what happened. This is often moving, and their vulnerability draws you in. But the thing I realized this time? I almost never hear this. People openly talking about how God changed their lives–it’s the best story on earth, and we don’t share it. That is a tragedy…because we need to edify each other through witness.
The witness of communal joy. You can’t make joy happen (it’s a gift of the Holy Spirit), but you can invite it. How often are you in a crowd of joyful people? Maybe celebrating a wedding? Or a new child’s birth? Joy often feels great–but what it communicates is “this changes everything for the better.” Oh, how we want to be part of that! And it makes sense that the carriers of the message of eternal life and love in Jesus are bearers of joy! Joy attracts and points to the message that Jesus Christ changes everything for the better, even if we don’t entirely understand how, yet. Communal joy is a witness, and a potent one.
And, letting God have the last “word.” Adoration of the Lord in the blessed sacrament is another witness–that the Lord alone is enough and beyond words. He is the one who fills us. He deserves all honor and glory, and we can come in humility where we are, as we are. He gives us all we need.
How could your parish, your family, your school, your friendships invite the power of witness in a more deliberate way?
