Dear Young People of the Archdiocese of Vancouver,

I wish I could be there with Gene to try and set you on fire...Life has a funny way of giving you very tough decisions to make, like paper or plastic bags at the grocery store, fries or a salad, oatmeal raisin or chocolate chip. Every day we make hundreds of simple and complex choices. Sometimes the decision is clear, but living the decision isn't so easy. But we do have a choice.

As I'm sure you know by now, I am not there because my wife and I are having our second son this weekend. There was a chance I could get there and back before she went into labor, but it was a gamble. Making the decision on whether or not I should travel to your wonderful Archdiocese was very difficult. I am passionate about sharing joy with others, especially when I can share the most intense joy of the human experience, the joy of God's own revelation and His Divine Love for us. But at the same time I am passionate about Family, and I kind of have a preference for my own. Being the best husband and father I can be is actually living the Sacrament of my Marriage, and as you are about to experience through Confirmation, Sacraments can be some wonderful, powerful stuff.

When presented with difficult decisions it is important to look carefully at the pros and cons, but ultimately one question lies at the center. It's not, "What do I want to do?" Or even, "What do I think would be the best or most successful choice?" The real question is, "What is God asking of me in this moment?" The first two questions have ourselves at the center. The challenge of our faith, as well as its unfathomable power, is to always put God at the center of everything. May this question be at the center of your journey to the Sacrament of Confirmation. A spiritual power is about to be unleashed in your life that you might not feel, that you can't see or measure in a laboratory, but is very real and very powerful. I pray that you are making this journey because you have made a choice, and have chosen for the right reason. I leave you with my favorite quote from the movie The Iron Giant. Hogarth, the small boy in the movie, had the wisdom and courage to stand up to the robot who had his guns and lasers pointed right at him, and knowing the deeper reality of who his friend truly was, despite what the rest of the world thought, said, "You are who you choose to be! You choose! Choose!"

May Christ's Joy Be Yours,
Brad Farmer of Apex Ministries

P.S. We considered naming our son Clayton Patrick Robert Gerard Gene David Monterastelli Farmer, but in the end we went with something a bit shorter. Find out why here.