January 8, 2010
Christmas Weekday
By Melanie Rigney
If we accept human testimony, the testimony of God is surely greater. Now the testimony of God is this, that he has testified on behalf of his Son. Whoever believes in the Son of God has this testimony within himself. (1 John 5:9-10)
Glorify the LORD, Jerusalem; Zion, offer praise to your God, Who has strengthened the bars of your gates, blessed your children within you, brought peace to your borders, and filled you with finest wheat. (Psalms 147:12-14)
(After curing the man with leprosy, Jesus) ordered him not to tell anyone, but “Go, show yourself to the priest and offer for your cleansing what Moses prescribed: that will be proof for them.” (Luke 5:14)
Piety
Lord, the blessings You have bestowed upon me have enriched me beyond compare. That is all I need. I pledge to praise you by living the testimony You have given me, not merely talking or writing about it.
Study
A rousing oral or written witness or testimony can bring us to tears, cause us to shake our heads in wonder, and perhaps make us grateful that we didn’t have to live through all that.
Consider:
• Immaculée Ilibagiza, the Rwandan who spent ninety-one days with seven other women in a small bathroom during the 1994 genocide and who lost most of her family members to the violence
• Corrie ten Boom, who spent ten months in Nazi concentration camps and prisons because she and her family had harbored Jewish refugees
• A friend born, raised, and married in the Diocese of Arlington, who wandered away from regular Mass attendance for years until divorce and illness within her network caused her to wonder about life and its purpose and to reconcile with Christ and share her story with others contemplating a return to the Catholic Church
All meaningful real-life stories, each with challenges writ large or small that many are grateful they’ve never been asked to replicate.
But at the end of the day, they’re words. Powerful words, but words. And actions speak louder than words. That’s perhaps one of the reason Jesus told the man with leprosy not to broadcast that Jesus had cured him, but rather to present himself to the priest as a living testimony.
But what inspires us and changes our lives is the testimony people live in our midst every day, often without fanfare or public acclaim:
• Immaculée later was able to say, “I forgive you” when she encountered the man who had killed her mother and brother
• After the war, Corrie returned to the Netherlands to set up rehabilitation centers for those who suffered in the Holocaust
• The woman who lives nearby is undergoing chemotherapy and inspiring a broad community of family, neighbors, friends, and former coworkers and classmates with her gracious, loving acceptance of meals, rides, and other gifts even though she traditionally is more comfortable being on the giving end
Words, spoken or written, can be moving. But true testimony comes in the way we live our lives when we are put to the test. That’s where we can truly prove our Christian beliefs, without guarantee of applause or compliments or admiring glances.
Action
Where do you see human testimony in action? Rather than saying thank you or writing a note of thanks to that person or people, pass it on by living your own testimony today.
