Steve Ray shared his journey from devout Baptist and the issues that carried him over the "uncrossable chasm" into the Church. This talk led perfectly into his two presentations on the Holy Mass as a sacrifice and the Eucharist as the source and summit of our faith. Before becoming a Catholic, Steve admits that he and his family were serious "church hoppers" because as they inevitably found something they didn't like in their current church, it was as easy as going down the street to a different church the next weekend. Once he fully researched the Catholic Church, he told a priest he was Catholic and discovered the process was a little more complicated than that, and so was the commitment to full communion in the Church. Steve Ray said his children appreciate the stability and authority of the Church, even though it is tougher to be a Catholic. “The Catholic Church is tough because it says, this is the truth,” he noted. “We’re not going to change it for the next generation that comes along, just because a generation becomes lax in it’s morals…. God doesn’t change, neither should His truth change.”

Brian Holdsworth did one presentation for the adults: responding to the crisis of faith in our society and in the Church; how we evangelize and reach loved ones who are not sitting in the pew beside us and the empty space that is left; and what we need to do and focus on that we currently are not. We were asked to consider how we tell our story and also the importance of advancing an authentic Catholic culture regarding the good, beautiful and true that has diminished both in our culture and sadly in many Catholic liturgical celebrations. This was a challenge for us to consider whether our worship and focus is elevated to God and he shared several statistics regarding how the more traditional forms of worship correlate to a decreased number of empty spaces in the pews. Brian also spoke to the young adults (18-35) and youth (15-17) regarding the influence and proper use of media in their lives. 

​

Ken and Janelle Yasinski blessed us once again with some excellent advice on evangelizing their children within the family and evangelizing the world through the witness of their family. Their weekend challenge to families was to go home and start a family Rosary group within our own community, friends and family. The Yasinski's began this as a family, inviting some friends to bring a dish and share a meal and pray the Rosary as families. There is a start and end time to the evening and specific intentions that they pray for and their initiative has increased in numbers of families far beyond their expectations. If all of us at FLC 2024 began this in our own communities, we would see the powerful fruits of evangelization the world and church need and this conference called us too.​ Ken also spoke to our young adult (18-35) group.

​

Brendan McCauley is a dynamic young Catholic speaker who was humourous, emotional, and intentional in his powerful message on the dignity of every single human person and God's love and mercy for every single human soul. God alone called us into being and holds us in the palm of His hand with great tenderness and the knowledge of who He created us to be. Man is His highest creation and we should look with more awe at one another than the way we gaze in awe at God's creation all around us - such as the most beautiful sunset, powerful waves crashing on the shore, or majestic mountain range. We are worthy of nothing less than His love. With love as our motivation, we bring God's truth to soul's who don't know they are loved by their Father who desires their highest good which is to live in all eternity with Him. By the resounding applause and appreciation Brendan received following his talk, it was very apparent we ALL needed to hear that message and need to "pay it forward". Brendan also spoke to the young adults (18-35) and Youth (15-17) groups.​