SCIC Triduum Day 1: The Call to Witness

Today we began the first day of the Triduum of St Chastan and St Imbert with the raising of the flag. It was a simple act, but a fitting way to begin a Triduum centred on witness.

A flag is meant to be seen. It tells others what we stand for and where we belong. Our faith, too, is meant to become visible. Not for display, but in the way we live.

Jesus tells His disciples in Acts 1:8: “You will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you will be my witnesses.”

In his homily, Fr David reminded us that the disciples became witnesses because they had encountered Jesus. They saw Him, heard Him and experienced Him. Their faith was not simply something they knew. It was something they had lived.

We see this in today’s Gospel. The woman who comes to Jesus hardly says a word. Yet her actions speak. Her tears, humility and love reveal what is happening within her. Others see her past. Jesus sees her faith and responds with mercy: “Your faith has saved you; go in peace.”

There is something powerful here. Witness does not always begin with words.

Often, it is tested in the places where it is hardest to pretend. At home, when we are tired, irritated, or carrying an old hurt, does our family still experience something of Christ in us? At work, when our integrity costs us something, do we still choose what is right? In our parish, when personalities clash or misunderstandings arise, are we as ready to forgive and reconcile as we are to speak about faith?

These are the places where witness becomes real. It is easy to speak about mercy until we have someone to forgive. Easy to speak about love until loving someone becomes difficult. Easy to profess our faith until living it asks something of us.

St Chastan and St Imbert witnessed to Christ so completely that they ultimately gave their lives for Him. Their courage did not begin with martyrdom. It began with a life shaped by an encounter with Christ and strengthened by the Holy Spirit.

As their flag flies above us during these days, perhaps it can remind us that our greatest sign of faith is not the one we raise, but the one others see in us.

If someone encountered Christ only through the way I live at home, at work and in my parish, what would they discover about Him? (BV)