November 7, 2025 // Bishop

Christ the King Celebrates 45 Newly Confirmed Catholics 

Eileen Bond

Emilia Appleton stood among 44 of her classmates, all with heads bowed and ready to receive the blessing from Bishop Rhoades and be fully initiated into the Church on Sunday, October 26, at Christ the King Parish in South Bend.

“I’m so proud,” Appleton’s older sister and sponsor, Isabel, told Today’s Catholic. “I could see how Emilia was so ready for it and so excited to receive this, and I’m so happy that I could support her through it.”

Eileen Bond
Bishop Rhoades confers the Sacrament of Confirmation on a young man during Mass at Christ the King Church in South Bend on Sunday, October 26.

Appleton said she chose St. Bernadette of Lourdes as her confirmation saint because she was drawn to the French saint’s persistence in seeing the Holy Mother appear to her. According to Appleton, that persistence is something she wants to imitate as she takes on the next chapter of her faith.

“I’ve known about her for a while, and I’ve always felt super close to her,” said Appleton, who was among the first of her classmates to receive the sacrament and lead her classmates up to the altar to hear Bishop Rhoades say, “Be sealed with the gift of the Holy Spirit.”

Bishop Rhoades took the time to speak to the students before they received the final sacrament of initiation, telling them, “The Holy Spirit, whom you receive in a special way in the Sacrament of Confirmation, will strengthen you to live these three foundational virtues of the Christian life.” He made his way down the aisle to the pews of students sitting before him, asking them if they could list the three theological virtues: faith, hope, and love.

“We know how important faith is,” Bishop Rhoades said. “We would not be here today if we did not have faith in God.”

But faith, which is revitalized in the Sacrament of Confirmation through the renewal of our baptismal promises, is not just an intellectual matter, he said, but also a matter of the heart.

“Real faith is active in love – faith without works is dead,” Bishop Rhoades told the congregation. Calling love the greatest of all the theological virtues, he stressed the importance of taking it beyond our love for God and spreading love to our neighbors as well. “We all need to remember, as St. John of the Cross said, ‘At the sunset of our lives, we will be judged on love.’”

Last, Bishop Rhoades spoke about the virtue of hope. As he reminded everyone, there is one hope that will never disappoint us – the love of God, which gives us the hope of eternal life. Jesus Christ will never disappoint us, even through hard times, he assured.

“The gift of hope, we are to spread to others, to be witnesses of hope or messengers of hope in the world,” Bishop Rhoades said. Because as Christians, we are witnesses to hope when we bring hope to others, “because the love of God has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit.” Although these three virtues were given to us by God in the sacrament of Baptism, they must be put into practice, Bishop Rhoades added. 

“The gift of hope, we are to spread to others, to be witnesses of hope or messengers of hope in the world, because the love of God has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit.”

Bishop Rhoades

The confirmandi are called to show the same humility and virtue as the saints they chose to be named after.

Recently confirmed Brayden Grove told Today’s Catholic that he hopes to emulate St. Michael the Archangel because he was a defender of heaven. After being confirmed, Brayden is now also a defender – of his faith. “It feels pretty amazing,” he said.

As the graces of baptism are strengthened by the Holy Spirit in confirmation, the recipients are empowered to live out their faith proudly. Student Stanley Kobalski told Today’s Catholic that he is proud to be fully initiated into the Church because he was able to reaffirm his own faith, standing before his loved ones. “It means to really understand and grow with Christ,” he said.