“We need to find God, and he cannot be found in noise and restlessness. God is the friend of silence. See how nature – trees, flowers, grass- grows in silence; see the stars, the moon and the sun, how they move in silence… We need silence to be able to touch souls.”
| St. Mother Teresa of Calcutta |
Dear Family and Friends of Pure Witness,
Another year has swiftly made its course! Once again, we write to you with Christmas greetings and a chance to share with you what God has been doing through our mission at Pure Witness.
This first four months of ministry was not what anyone expected – especially staff. This was a very atypical year for Pure Witness. Not since our first year have we had so few retreats before Christmas, with fewer than normal bookings and then some retreats cancelled or postponed for various unexpected reasons.
But God allows for all things. He is very intentional in all He does. He had a plan for Pure Witness this term and for each member of our staff and team. It has given us the opportunity to put into practice the counsel of St. Paul who exhorts us to “rejoice always, pray constantly and give thanks in all situations, for this is the will of God for you in Christ Jesus.” (1 Thessalonians 5:16)
Often, we can become so focused on outreach as the primary goal of Pure Witness, that we forget that it is God who sets the agenda. Our missionaries are called to a three-fold mission of Community Living, Faith Formation and Outreach. God can do a great deal in all these areas, and certainly we know that as our missionaries grow in each of these areas of their life, God is preparing them for a mission in life much bigger than their year on Pure Witness. As far as we are concerned, the first fruit of Pure Witness is, and always has been, the Team – our Missionaries. It is into these young men and women that we pour our energy, efforts, love and resources, that they might have a year of personal transformation.
Normally outreach – putting on retreats and events – makes for a very busy pace of life, and in that busyness life can become very “noisy” and distracting. But this year has been “quiet”, which causes us to reflect on the meaning of “silence” in our lives. Despite the fact that our community house, Domus Galilaeae, gets very noisy at times with the youthful and joyful presence of all these dynamic young people, life in general has been quite silent. We, both staff and team, have been invited into a particular stillness these past four months, and in that stillness we have discovered that where there is silence God is usually speaking the loudest!
I heard a speaker once say, “Silence is the reality into which all noise invades.” Silence is the place where the soul most naturally encounters God. It would seem that God has been “shouting” into our lives … as He stirs up all the noise that dwells within us through this unexpected time of silence. In deed, it has been a time of fruitful personal reflection for each of us.
Cardinal Robert Sarah, the prefect of the Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments, recently co-authored a book entitled The Power of Silence: Against the Dictatorship of Noise (Ignatius Press). In an interview he gave regarding this book he made the following observations:
It seems that the Lord was graciously giving us each a far more productive time than just what we experience in busy outreach. Time to be more still than we typically are in the hustle and bustle of this culture. Time to hear His voice speaking into the depths of our hearts. Time to reflect on the daily call to personal conversion. Time to allow the Holy Spirit to bring about a work of transformation in our lives. Time to go more deeply in our personal relationship with Christ. Time to tune our ears and hearts more finely to His Word: that Word which was made flesh so long ago in Bethlehem, that came to the world in such beautiful silence – hidden and humble.
“While gentle silence enveloped all things, and night in its swift course was now half gone,
Your all-powerful word leaped from heaven, from the royal throne.”
| Wisdom 18:14-15 |
This is the mystery that God has invited us here at Pure Witness more deeply into these past four months. It has been like an extended Advent in preparation for Christ’s coming in our lives. And perhaps this is the most important work of transformation God will be doing in our lives this year, in preparation for what is to come – not just in the busyness of outreach in the many retreats booked in the New Year – but also in our lives beyond Pure Witness. This time of silence has truly set the stage well in each of our lives for the greatest adventure of all:
To fall in love with God is the greatest romance;
to seek Him the greatest adventure;
to find Him, the greatest human achievement.
| St. Augustine of Hippo |
So now we move forward from this first term of Pure Witness with hearts ready to serve, renewed in strength and in faith, and prepared to announce the Good News of our salvation to a world that is dying to hear it. As St. Teresa of Calcutta said: “The more we receive in silent prayer, the more we can give in active service.”
We pray that your Christmas celebrations will be filled with an abundance of God’s blessings and that in the busyness of the season you will find time for silence, that the Lord will speak loudly into your own hearts of His love, His mercy, His vision and His mission for each of your own lives. We pray that through the generosity of so many Christian hearts responding to God’s call in their lives, God might bring about a transformation in our world for the peace that only He can give. May the blessings of the Prince of Peace, born on Christmas so many years ago, be yours now and throughout the New Year!
Below are brief messages from each of our missionaries (both staff and team) here at Pure Witness. As you see the faces and read the testimonies of these beautiful souls, know that your support and prayers are making a great difference in their lives and the lives of all those they will witness to both this year and over the years to come. You are helping to build the Kingdom of God, one heart-transformed at a time!
With gratitude for your prayers and support!
James and Carmen Marcoux
Co-Founders of Pure Witness Ministries
Pure Witness Team meeting Bishop Mark Hagemoen at his installation.
God has been working in all of our lives and transforming each of our souls little by little in the time that we, as a team, have been together. This first half of this year, we have grown together in our faith in such a huge way and also grown as a team, in faith and love of Our Lord. The gratitude I have in my heart for the mission of Pure Witness as well as all of the support, love, and prayers I have received from so many wonderful people is overwhelming. I am excited to see what the new year has in store!~ Christa Taylor
These past four months my team has had the opportunity to put on retreats for both youth and the elderly. We are currently in Advent, and as we prepare for Christmas break we are listening to talks and growing deeper in our prayer life. We have learnt a lot in these first four months and I am very excited for the new year to start.
~ Michael Salamida
This year has been amazing, life-changing and so fruitful. I am very blessed and so thankful that I listened to the desire God had placed on my heart, leading me to Pure Witness. My time on Pure Witness so far has not been anything I had expected, with God calling and leading us to do outreach in new ways, such as Senior Home Ministry. Being on team has been such a blessing and I am constantly in awe of my teammates’ beauty, and the impact they are making on all we minister to and on myself.~ Katie Jodoin
This year on Pure Witness so far has been the most fruitful and transformational time in my life. I have grown exponentially in my relationship with God and it has opened my heart to the richness that my life can hold. I have gotten to experience the phenomenal support of this community in growing all my gifts while helping others grow in theirs, as well as finding new avenues to use these skills as a team. I can’t wait for the new year to continue growing in this ministry and giving to all those I encounter!~ Sariana Kirk
We have had such a blessed year marked by the richness of the fruits of his grace! I can see it so tangibly in everyone. Every year is blessed, unique, with it’s strengths and lessons. I want to share six of the many fruits I see that give insight to the beauty of the interior journey of our community: interior silence, trust, hope, forgiveness, vulnerability, and self giving. Such beautiful fruit of the journey can only be attributed to the goodness of God as he lavishes his Spirit on those who love him and call on his name. It’s been so necessary for him to give us the silence for him to speak. Embracing the interior silence has been a lesson that I need over and over in my life. It’s funny how we forget that this stillness with God in communion with him will always bring us the peace, strength, and answers we’re looking for. In all this I am reminded of our logo at Pure Witness — setting Christ at the heart of our lives.~ Rebekah Marcoux, Team Coach
This year I have been so blessed and privileged to be working again for Pure Witness as the Music Coordinator. It is said that you become like those you associate with, so being surrounded with young Catholic adults who are striving to grow in holiness and become saints is nothing less than amazing. I thank all who have been supporting this mission with prayers or financially. It has given me and many missionaries a chance to grow, share and live out our faith in an extraordinary way.~ Matthew Marcoux, Music Coordinator
It is an absolute blessing to do retreats for these elderly. They have so many stories from their past of how they have come to know their faith. One woman said to me, “It reminded me of the conversion I had when I was in university”, as she related to the drama that we had put on for her moments before.
~ Michael ~
Are you still looking for a Christmas gift for someone?
Or would you just like some new Christmas music for your collection!
Order the Pure Witness Christmas CD online!
The songs on the album are a mix of genres and styles, from acapella to rock to “crooner-style”. There are songs that will make you want to get up and dance and ones that you can pray with. Old songs made new and songs that maybe you haven’t heard before!
This is an album for anybody and everybody.
1 CD: $20
2 CDs: $30
5 CDs: $60
+5 CDs: $12 each