the Brady Brothers Confirmation Testimonies

Testimonies Read by Father Chas Canoy

Read the Testimonies

 

Father Chas: And this evening, we have two young men, the Brady boys right here, who will receive the sacrament of confirmation. And both are eager to receive this sacrament, to actively cooperate with the gifts of the Holy Spirit that confirmation gives to us. And so before I call them up, I’d like to introduce them to you. So Ryland and Daniel are brothers.

Father Chas: You may know their mother because Tara Brady is our school principal, and she has been doing an awesome job leading our school. And so it’s no surprise that Rylan and Daniel both graduated from St. John’s School and Lumen Christi. In fact, I remember the commencement ceremony, the most recent one between you two, May of 2024. Daniel was sitting right there, I think, was it like the fourth, third or fourth spot?

Father Chas: Fourth, yes. So sitting on that fourth spot means that he is in the top five of that graduating class. So he’s got a lot up here, right? So both Ryland and Daniel are gifted hockey players as well. So they are continuing to play in college. Ryland at Trine University and Daniel at Schoolcraft College. But neither of them were spiritually ready to be confirmed during their time at Lumen Christi.

Father Chas: Right and I very much respect the students who maturely reflect upon whether or not they are truly prepared and are eager to receive the sacrament of confirmation with an authentic personal faith as opposed to simply you know doing it because you know everybody else is doing it and because their family expects them to do it remember we talked about how active cooperation is necessary for the divine power of the sacraments to actually have an effect on our lives. So I always emphasize to our young people that the reason they should be receiving the sacrament of confirmation is because they, not just mom and dad, truly desire it.

Father Chas: So both Father Randy and I can attest that Ryland and Brady do truly desire it and know that the active cooperation of their personal faith is needed for the gifts of the Holy Spirit to manifest, to have a supernatural effect in their lives. So I’d like to share with you a couple of excerpts of their testimonies, and then we’ll go forward with confirming them.

Father Chas: So this is Ryland’s testimony. He said, The foundation of my faith was built while I attended St. John’s for elementary school and then Lumen Christi for high school. Throughout those years, I was learning and creating habits that strengthened my relationship with Jesus, habits that, when I moved away from home at 17, were pillars that were starting to become more and more stable. These things consisted of going to confession, praying, and attending Mass every Sunday.

Father Chas: Going to Mass every week became the most consistent thing in my life. And God knows our youth need consistency, right? That stability in a very unstable world. And God’s grace provides that stability. So he continues, It gave me comfort knowing that I’d get to begin my week by spending time with Jesus in such an intimate way.

Father Chas: The rest of the world and my problems seemed to fade away during the hour service. Two years ago, I was going through some hard times. These were times I was struggling the most mentally, but also felt the closest to Jesus. I took steps to lean into my faith more than I ever had before. I also read a book in which I consecrated myself to Joseph, listened to a podcast to consecrate myself to Mary, was praying the rosary a few times a week, and was doing Bible studies with my cousin, Kaven. All of these things over the years have moved something in my heart to reach out to Father Chaz and see if it was possible for me and my brother to get confirmed before we went to school for the year. I felt a hunger to be closer to Jesus and to live more fully how he wants me to live. I pushed it off in high school because I thought hockey was more important. It’s not. Nothing is.

Father Chas: It’s been a blessing to go through the process while I am older and have more of a grasp of my faith than I would if I was younger. I am very grateful to Father Chaz and Father Randy for creating a process and being so involved with it while me and my brother Daniel prepare and pray for the Holy Spirit to change our lives. I really encourage others to get baptized and or confirmed if they haven’t already. The power of the Holy Spirit and the graces are real and are life-changing.

Father Chas: And then I’d like to read an excerpt from Daniel’s testimony. After St. John’s, he said, I went to middle school at Lumen Christi, where I kind of got lost in my faith. When it came time for confirmation, I opted out of it because I thought I was too busy and felt like I didn’t need it. As I went through high school, I was on and off with my faith. But once I graduated, things changed.

Father Chas: I started to go to adoration once a week and just sat in silence with Jesus. This time deepened my faith tremendously. I wanted to take another step, so I turned to the sacrament of confirmation. As we’ve been working toward our confirmation, I am excited to be filled with the Holy Spirit and ready for my life to be changed through confirmation. End of quote. So I love how both of them are exhibiting that expectant faith that gives the Holy Spirit permission to truly affect their lives. And so without further ado, let’s deepen the work of the Holy Spirit who first entered their lives at baptism.