Share Your Faith. Inspire Others.

While chaperoning my daughter's fourth-grade field trip at the Heart of Jesus Retreat Center in Santa Ana, I came across a small booklet by Servant of God Sister Ida Peterfy, SDSH, titled Do Whatever He Tells You. Drawn from John 2:5, the title recalls the Blessed Virgin Mary's instruction to the servants at the Wedding at Cana, words that immediately preceded Christ’s first public miracle of turning water into wine.

This booklet served as a gentle reminder of a calling I had put off for years: launching The Christian Witness Podcast. I had created this website some time ago, but paused the project while producing my own biblical discernment channel on YouTube, @JoshRader.

Yet God seemed to be calling me back to the Witness Podcast. During Mass at the retreat, the celebrant, Fr. Aristotle, held up an image of a mosaic he had created of the Sacred Heart of Jesus. Remarkably, it was the exact icon I had chosen for my YouTube channel—and it was in the mosaic style I had previously designed for The Christian Witness Podcast. Fr. Aristotle's artwork not only affirmed my passion for the podcast, but he also explained that he had composed his mosaic from photographs of the people and events that shaped his own vocation. It was a striking confirmation of the very vision God had placed on my heart of what the Witness Podcast could do for others by strengthening their own faith.

As I reflected on this experience, I felt the nudge of the Spirit to do a reverse image search of the photograph I had taken of Fr. Aristotle's icon. To my surprise, another layer of God's divine providence emerged: the online software he had used to create the mosaic listed a publication date of March 30, the very day of my own wedding anniversary. Furthermore, the year of publication was 2017, the exact year I returned to graduate school to pursue my vocation of teaching and preaching the Gospel, which originally inspired this podcast. It was also the year my wife entered RCIA, leading to her baptism at Easter 2018, the baptism of our children, and the renewal of our marriage vows in the Church.

The more I reflected on these interwoven events, the more clearly they pointed back to the Wedding at Cana. Christ's miracle at Cana first drew me to embrace the Catholic faith through the Eucharist. Now, discovering that the mosaic had been created on our wedding anniversary, alongside my wife’s entry into full communion with the Church, reminded me that the Wedding Feast of the Lamb stands at the center of the Christian life, with the Eucharist as its source and summit. After all, it was during the Mass that Fr. Aristotle held up his artwork that inspired me to return to this project and led me to write this testimony.

Recognizing God's providence in these moments, I knew it was time to move forward. We are all called to evangelize, teach, and proclaim the Gospel. The Christian Witness Podcast is simply one way to answer that call by sharing how God works in our lives. My hope is that these testimonies will encourage you to recognize God’s grace, strengthen your faith, and inspire you to become a witness in Christ.

If you feel called to share your story, I invite you to prayerfully submit your testimony. Your testimony might just be what someone else needs to hear.

May God bless you in this endeavor,

Josh