Wednesday of the Third Week of Advent
Today’s Gospel Acclamation exhorts us, Raise your voice and tell the Good News; Behold, the Lord God comes with power. God invites us through the Word to be the prophets of our day, the evangelists, the apostles – ones who witness to the power and presence of God and who give testimony to the Good News of Christ. In short, we are called to tell others about the ways in which we see and experience God in our lives and in the world around us. Sometimes, many times, we are the only voices that others will hear speaking words of life; we may be the only ones to inspire faith, hope, and confidence in our great God.
Our testimonies are powerful! When we testify, when we share what God is doing in our lives, we give hope to others and inspire them to have greater faith and trust in God. If we keep silent, we miss opportunities to help others to grow in confidence that God is at work in their lives, too. In today’s Gospel, John sends his disciples to ask Jesus if he is indeed the long-awaited Messiah. Jesus answers them by telling them to go and testify to what they’ve seen and heard. They’d heard the preaching and seen the miracles that Christ performed – all evidence that the Messiah was indeed in their midst, active and present. It’s the same today – when we tell others about what Christ is doing in our lives, and when we verbalize the Gospel message, we provide evidence that God is real, and that God is present and active and available to everyone.
Today I invite you to think about your testimony. How have you seen, heard, and experienced the Lord at work in your life in the past week? With whom might you share these things? When we share our testimony, we first and foremost give glory to God and then in the sharing we inspire others to greater faith, hope, and confidence in our glorious God.
My 87-year-old Mom made it through a major, complicated, and extremely risky surgery last month. She is making a steady recovery and has avoided systemic infection, which was another risk of the procedure. I can see the Lord’s hand of protection over her in very direct and tangible ways. I also observe Christ ministering to her through his Body – so many beautiful examples of the exceptional healthcare team and all the caregivers who continue to provide merciful care to her. I give God glory and praise for providential care and for truly extraordinary caregivers and professionals.
Last week, my beloved Ed and I were sacramentally married on the Feast of Our Lady of the Immaculate Conception. I was severely ill with an upper respiratory infection that week and physically felt absolutely miserable. Discouraged, on the eve of our wedding, I prayed to the Lord that my physical symptoms would subside and that I could enjoy our wedding day without physical disability and without being contagious to others. God heard my cry and provided relief on our special day. The next day, my symptoms returned, and I wound up making a doctor’s appointment and getting antibiotics and steroids to help me recover. I give God glory and praise for so sweetly offering mercy and compassion to me and to all involved on the day of our Sacrament. Additionally, and I’ll say miraculously, God was at work reconciling some broken relationships within our family and we saw extravagant fruit of that healing work along with our wedding.
These are just two examples among many that I would offer from my life. Now it’s your turn! What’s your testimony and how can you respond to Jesus’ invitation, as he gave it to John’s disciples, “Go and tell what you have seen and heard . . .”
Elizabeth Wells (formerly Wourms)