Discerning Our Call to Witness

Today in the resource Give Us This Day we learned about St. Josephine Bakhita, a woman born in Southern Sudan in 1869 and sold into slavery. She ended up in Italy, and upon learning that slavery was illegal there and that she was free, she joined the Daughters of Charity, where “She lived to the age of seventy-eight, mostly engaged in simple tasks, cooking, sewing, serving as doorkeeper.” Upon being asked by a visiting bishop what she did, she reportedly replied, “What do I do? Exactly what you are doing—the will of God.”

It was interesting to read this story after watching a video of an address by Dr. Greer Gordon on Leadership and the Church and having a discussion with my living group about our call to be witnesses to the Gospel. It appears that we can be witnesses through our very being, as St. Josephine was; her existence as a free black woman who, of her own accord, chose to serve God and others was a form of witness in and of itself. On the other hand, our witness can also take the form of concrete actions of advocacy and care for persons in need.

If we are seekers of God, our lives become a witness to the presence of God in the world no matter what tasks we are called to do. Some people seem to be called to quiet lives of service in the household, whereas others are called to march and launch initiatives and protest on behalf of others. Discerning our particular call to witness is an ongoing challenge because we sometimes make judgments that some forms of service are more important than others, or we wish we had a different call, or our call changes as our lives progress. Ultimately, though, if we live as though we are beloved of God, listen, and respond to the needs that are brought to our attention, our witness can’t help but bear fruit.