"Do whatever he tells you" (John 2:5).

From Reluctance to Revelation: My Testimony

About five years ago, as I was finishing graduate school, an idea came to me for a podcast. It wasn’t the one you might have seen on YouTube currently, but it was another idea born from a single line that had placed itself deep in my heart. The line came from Evangelii Nuntiandi, a document by Pope Paul VI, which means Proclaiming the Gospel.

He wrote:

“Modern man listens more willingly to witnesses than to teachers, and if he does listen to teachers, it is because they are witnesses.”

Upon hearing it I imagined a podcast where every day Christians could witness to the faith and not just by what they had to say, but by who they were. And that was the seed of the Christian Witness Podcast, and in my mind, I imagined a mosaic of faithful faces forming the face of Christ. This I had many times seen in those who are truly faithful, the face of Christ is bright in them.

The Christian Witness Podcast

I dove right in. I designed a logo, built a website, and asked friends if they wanted to share their testimony. My closest friends said yes, but most people hesitated. Many didn’t want to speak about their faith. I realized, with some honesty about myself, that I was scared to share my faith publicly, so I created a podcast for others to do it for me. 

This realization that deep down, I was afraid, and did not want to go on camera was at first a stumbling block. I hated talking to a lens. But eventually I did it anyway and it was terrible. I fumbled, forgot what I wanted to say, and struggled to organize my thoughts. Most of what I recorded ended up scrapped.

I went back to the drawing board, thinking if I just write the episodes, all of them will eventually become enough to teach. While this was helpful in my journey of faith it just led me to become even more of an introvert. 

Three Years in the Wilderness

For three years, I wandered in a wilderness of reading, writing, learning, and returning to the studio only to be disappointed by the results. But I kept showing up. What sustained me was the real conviction that God had placed this calling on my heart for a reason, and even if it didn’t seem like I was making progress over time it would be revealed.

During that season, I finished one book, made progress on two others, and researched about a dozen projects. By the end of three years, I had written over 300 episodes in various formats; testimonies, Bible studies, catechetical teachings, etc. The output was there, even if the purpose wasn’t entirely clear, and from the outside it looked like I hadn’t accomplished much at all, internally I was being changed and learning just as much if not more practicing my faith life more deeply and pouring myself into this kind of work. 

Eventually, I decided to face my fear and go on camera without too much preparation. I’d speak on a chapter, a verse, or a document, maybe something the Pope had written, and see what came out. To my surprise, it worked. I recorded nearly 30 episodes last year, slowly growing comfortable with speaking publicly. Now, I have an entire catalog to work from in the coming year for 2026. Also, at the end of 2025 I was being inspired to return to the original concept that I had been planted on my heart during Grad School.

The Retreat

Towards the end of last year, I was really feeling called to go back to my vision of the Christian Witness Podcast. I began researching studio equipment, planned the space, and was thinking about doing both my current podcast and the other one at the same time, but I worried that it might be too much, so of course I prayed about it.

Right around that time, I was invited to attend my daughter’s 4th grade retreat at the Heart of Jesus Retreat Center in Santa Ana. You may have noticed the Sacred Heart of Jesus behind me during my current podcast, an image that I have always loved, knowing that Christ has bore the crown of thorns for us, and our sins cause his heart to suffer. To my surprise during the homily at the Mass the priest held up a piece of art he had created in seminary: a mosaic of the Sacred Heart of Jesus. 

Up close, it was composed of smaller images, faces, places, and moments forming one larger picture. I felt God was encouraging me to keep going. It echoed the logo I had designed years earlier for the podcast. I felt as though it was a confirmation that I was called to this project. It was a sign to me at least that faith is not a solo journey. Every testimony, every witness, every encounter with God is a tile in the larger mosaic of His Kingdom of Heaven on earth. God weaves it all together: from our friends, our family, our communities all to bring about His glory on earth. This I saw as one of those moments.

The Confirmation

But God wasn’t done.

Today, as I was writing up this testimony, I did a reverse image search of the priest's mosaic that I had taken a picture of that day. When I put it into google it revealed Fr. Aristotle’s publication date of the mosaic was March 30, 2017. That date, March 30th is my wedding anniversary, and that year 2017 is the year I returned to school to fully give my life to Jesus. About two years ago we moved, so that our kids could go to Catholic Schools in Southern California, and it just so happened that Fr. Aristotle is our parish priest. 

I will do an episode on this soon maybe even the first one when I finally launch the Christian Witness Podcast. If I know one thing God isn’t done yet. This is just the beginning.

Marriage is also a Covenant

Marriage is neither a human invention, a mere societal construct, nor a simple civil institution. Rather, the bond of marriage is established in openness to God’s providential plan for those called to the Sacrament of Matrimony. From the beginning, the creation of man and woman was ordained by God. The blessing of marriage is a gift from our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom all men and women are created. It is God’s endowment upon creation that humanity should bear, in its very image, the vision of the “Wedding Feast of the Lamb.”

The Wedding Feast refers to Christ and His Church, and spouses are called to participate in that same kind of covenantal relationship. The Sacrament of Matrimony mirrors this divine communion with God and man. It is through the Sacrament of Matrimony that God works to bring married couples closer to himself through their relationship with one another. Our relationship with God is reflected in our relationship with our spouse, and in turn, the way we love our spouse shapes and deepens our relationship with God.

The verse from Scripture, "Let us rejoice and exult and give Him the glory, for the marriage of the Lamb has come, and His Bride has made herself ready" (Revelation 19:7), speaks first of the Church herself. It points to the holy communion between Christ and His Bride, the Church. This is the meaning of the "Wedding Feast of the Lamb." The Lamb is Christ, who takes away the sins of the world through His sacrifice on the Cross. Marriage is like this in that married couples must sacrifice for one another, participating in marriage sacramentally like that of Holy Communion. Through marriage, man is made whole in Christ, bringing about greater unity between Christ and His Church.

God intends for all marriages to realize this divine origin and end; when difficulties arise from sin, we must seek our renewal in Jesus Christ. It is within this Covenant with Christ that we are recognized as His adopted children and members of the Church. We constitute His body, and our marriages unite us in Him. Thus, we do not merely marry another individual; rather, through Christ, we receive the vocation of marriage. Jesus stands at the center, bonding and uniting spouses through the blood of the New Covenant. It is by the grace of God that the "two become one" and share in the life established by the Creator. As the Catechism states, “The vocation to marriage is written in the very nature of man and woman as they came from the hand of the Creator” (CCC 1603).

These vows of conjugal chastity and purity lead ultimately to the fruitful intention of God’s unfailing love that will lead to a life blessed with mutual affection and children. It is the Word of God who commanded, “Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth and subdue it,” signifying that we are heirs to His Kingdom called to fulfill His design.

Typology and Salvation History

The Holy Scriptures affirm that what God has joined, no man shall separate. The woman is "flesh of his flesh," his equal, and his nearest in all things, is given to man by God. Eve, created as wife and mother to the living, prefigures the "New Eve," Mary. It is Mary who brings into the world the "New Adam," Jesus, to renew and rebirth humanity from sin. When viewing the entirety of Salvation History, we see Jesus at the center, with marriage, matrimony, and love as its fruits.

God intended us to marry so that we might be renewed not only in the institution of matrimony but in His only begotten Son, Jesus Christ. It is through Jesus that the two become one, just as Mary’s womb facilitated the renewal of man. The Triune love of mother, father, and child, unified by the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, represents the joining of the Divine Family with the domestic family. The Church, through the Eucharist and God’s presence, remains the "source and summit" of all Christian life. By adhering to this, we steer clear of the secular culture, the self, and the adversary, uniting ourselves instead with His one true family: the Holy Catholic Church.

The Reality of Sin and the Necessity of Grace

“Every man experiences evil around him and within himself. This experience makes itself felt in the relationship between man and woman. Their union has always been threatened by discord, a spirit of domination, infidelity, jealousy, and conflicts that can escalate into hatred and separation” (CCC 1606).

The statistics are sobering: with upwards of 30% of American Catholics ending their marriages, and nearly one in two marriages in the United States ending in divorce, the crisis is evident. Families are devastated; children witnessing the dissolution of the family suffer not only emotional upheaval but a disordered notion of family life and of God Himself. However, the demands of marriage and family, when yoked in Christ, are light, for the burdens are placed upon the Holy Father on whom we rely. Without God and prayer, marriages are vulnerable to temptation. While the warmth of natural love may fade slowly over time, the stress of finances, the balancing of work and family life, and the unmet needs of spouses begin to wear upon the heart. Loneliness and desolation can set in during these struggles. The world, the self, and Satan seek to detract, tempt, and divide until the relationship is torn asunder.

This is the reality of a world without Christ and a marriage without Christ; even the most devout struggle to attain a purely selfless marriage. Despite God’s good creation, man introduced sin, changing God’s gift into a relationship often marked by domination and lust (cf. CCC 1607). Therefore, the necessity for robust marriage preparation cannot be ignored and neither should ongoing marital support through truly Christ centered ministries.

Restoration in Christ

With God, all things are possible. He does not refute His will to offer mercy and love to all those who call upon Him. He stands at the door knocking; those who invite Him in will dine with Him. God must be center stage in the family and in marriage just as it were at the wedding vows, the moment of engagement, and the first gaze between husband and wife. Without Him, man and woman cannot achieve the divine love endowed by their Creator. He heals our wounds from sin and washes our feet from the failed trials of life so that we may seek redemption. As Scripture reminds us, “If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves” (1 John 1:8).

Marriage assists us in overcoming self-absorption, egoism, and the pursuit of one’s own pleasure (cf. CCC 1609). It forms the moral conscience of a couple, guiding them away from the self so that the gift of self may be donated freely in service to the other. This mutual gift of true love embraces the trials of life, enduring them as examples of Christ’s love for the Church. This is the meaning of true matrimony: self-donation and sacrifice. Just as Christ laid Himself down in the Garden of Gethsemane, we must pick up our cross alongside Him.

The Sacramental Bond

In knowing and loving Christ, we come to know the full meaning of Matrimony. In Christ, marriage is defined by unity and indissolubility, revealing a love stronger than death. This relies on the Resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ, in whom we place our faith, hope, and charity.

Spousal vows are renewed through the “Wedding Feast of the Lamb,” celebrated daily at the Holy Mass. Here, we are reunited at Calvary, nourished by the Body and Blood of Jesus Christ. This presentation of the Marriage Supper of the Lamb is precisely why the wedding ceremony is properly held within the Mass. It is the uniting of man, woman, and God. This connection is highlighted by the Wedding at Cana, where Christ performed His first public miracle. Although He told His mother, “My hour has not come,” His action confirmed that “marriage will be a sign of Christ’s presence” (CCC 1613). Just as the Eucharist reveals His presence by turning bread and wine into the body, blood, soul, and divinity of Jesus, the nourishment of Christ’s body in the Eucharist sustains the body of the marriage through the Sacrament of Matrimony.

It is the man and woman who, as ministers of the Sacrament, enter Matrimony in the presence of Christ. By its divine nature, no man can divide what God has joined. While man can separate himself from God, a valid marriage stands eternally in the eyes of God. “Christ restores the original order of creation disturbed by sin; he himself gives the strength and grace to live marriage” (CCC 1615). To live marriage is to live a life in Christ through prayer and devotion.

Together, through this divine relationship, husband and wife are united in the Holy Spirit, which binds them through self-giving, and one must always be aware of its fruitfulness and life-giving potential of the marital act. This is not only regarding offspring, but the perfect union of self-gift through the purity of love. That love is Jesus Christ, who unites us in His perfection so that ones marriage may remain unburdened by the self. In the words of Saint Paul:

“Husbands, love your wives, as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her, that he might sanctify her... For this reason a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and the two shall become one. This is a great mystery, and I mean in reference to Christ and the Church.” (Ephesians 5:25, 31-32)

It is through a marriage founded in Christ that a man and woman reveal the Paschal Mystery within themselves by making sacrifice for one another. This is part of the process of experiencing God’s divine revelation of salvation in ones daily life through the Sacrament of Matrimony. No one can tear asunder what God has joined together, and what God has joined is made perfect in Him. If one is willing to follow God’s will, then His glory will be done through the husband and wife who put faith and grace above the self.