The verb “witness” can mean “to be a sign of something” or “to see something happen.” When Vermont Catholic Content Editor/Staff Writer Cori Fugere Urban asked people throughout the Diocese of Burlington how they “witness the Catholic faith,” this is what they answered:

Deacon John Blicharz, St. Charles Church, Bellows Falls

“I like to show forth my faith through my daily actions. Every day I try to be a decent Christian, a decent Catholic, and show Jesus Christ in my daily way. And that way people understand my understanding and my love of the Church. I also bring Jesus Christ into people’s homes through my monthly TV show called ‘Sharing Thoughts,’ which I think is a good idea to bring Jesus Christ into people’s lives, and that way they understand who Jesus is and how Jesus is important to them.”

Emma Goff, St. Pius X Parish, Essex Center

“I witness the faith by being a coordinator of religious education and by witnessing children learning about the faith. It’s a wonderful experience to be able to see them grow in their own relationship with the Lord and learn more throughout their time in the religious ed. programs.”

Michael Lyons, St. John Vianney Parish, South Burlington

“I witness the faith through the kids of this Diocese and how open and receptive they are to God and His teaching and His word and just to see the joy that they have when they just learn about Jesus and about how awesome He is. I can see that Jesus is so happy to see them learning and having fun.”

Kim Allbee, St. Francis Xavier Parish, Winooski

“I witness the faith by being a joyful presence and recognizing Jesus in those that I encounter. My motto is taken from St. Therese: ‘Do little things with great love.’”

Father Henry Furman, pastor of St. Luke Church in Fairfax and Ascension Church in Georgia

“The Legion of Mary … did door-to-door evangelization in Swanton, and there are many things we are doing in the church, but going out two by two, door-to-door this is a profound way to evangelize, and it’s part of the Gospel. So it was really a very profitable, very worthwhile endeavor and, our participants are looking forward to doing it again.”

Laura Wells, St. Thomas Church, Underhill Center

“I witness the faith through all of my actions. I ask God to help me in everything that I do. And then, I witness when people are open to hear the Word of God.”

Mary Reczek, St. Stanislaus Kostka Church, West Rutland

“For me faith is not just honoring God but honoring God’s people. Here in West Rutland we try to do that by honoring our ancestors, by honoring the people in the community, by for doing for those who are either forgotten, homebound, in nursing homes and of course also those who have passed away.”

Bill O’Connor, St. Charles Church, Bellows Falls

“I witness my faith by trying to help out Father Maria [Lazar]. He’s a priest from India doing a beautiful job and St. Charles, and we don’t have too many people that are around to help him now so I work where I can, and hopefully people learn from that.”

—Originally published in the Falls 2018 issue of Vermont Catholic magazine.