Blog & Pastor Letters

Thinking back to when our neophytes were catechumens prior to the Easter Vigil, I always appreciate hearing their stories about how they came to the Catholic faith. For some, it was a spiritual conversion, maybe witnessing a healing or being directed in prayer. For others, it may have been more intellectual, asking questions and investigating the answers, leading them to the truths of the faith. Either way, the Holy Spirit’s presence is quite apparent whenever we examine the trajectories of these individuals.

I used to be a babysitter for several young children when I was a teenager. I took the certification classes, I knew basic first aid, I was comfortable with the parents, and I landed a few babysitting jobs and had the opportunity to earn a few dollars. And although I did indeed care about the children I babysat and we had some fun playing games, I obviously could never be a replacement for their parents. In that sense, I was the “hired man” to take care of the child.

It’s been said that the more you get to know someone, the more you realize that there is so much more to know about that person. If I learn tomorrow that my friend is a rock climber, all of a sudden more questions pop up: When did you start? Where do you go? How do you train? Learning this one fact makes me realize there’s a whole lot more I don’t know about the person.

What does it mean to “bear witness” to something? If we witness a crime, we can report that to the police, and they will take a witness statement to record what we’ve seen or heard. If we witness an event, we might be called upon to give an interview for a news story about our experiences.