Workings of the Spirit

Mother joins OCIA through inspiring witness of her 9-year-old son

On April 25th, 9-year-old Blake Bartyn was baptized before his family and fellow students at St. Mary’s Catholic Church in Beaverlodge.

Blake was not raised Catholic, but over the past year the St. Mary’s School student has felt a growing curiosity about the Catholic faith, and has grown to have a deep relationship with Jesus. Now, he has fulfilled his wish to be baptized and to grow that relationship with Jesus even more.

When asked what he would say to his peers on why he finds it important to have a relationship with Jesus, Blake, who was often shy and spare with his words, responded “To make God a bigger part of your life. Because He created everything.”

“When I got baptized, I wanted to do it in front of the whole school,” Blake said. “It felt really good.”

Blake’s journey to baptism began last year, when he started approaching his parents, asking many things that were percolating in his mind and heart after his religion classes at St. Mary’s Catholic School in Beaverlodge. Despite the fact that he had little religious upbringing, through learning about the Catholic faith at school, Blake was increasingly drawn to learn more about God.

“About a year ago, he started asking questions, especially about a relationship with Jesus,” Blake’s mom Brandy Bartyn recalled. “To be honest, at first we didn’t necessarily think he was serious, and we were uncertain. But there was a gradual insistence over time. Usually when I tucked him into bed at night, he would have these kinds of musings: He would ask questions about Jesus, about what things meant, and, if they had a certain topic at school that day in religion class, he would want to talk about it and share it with me.

“My husband and I, not being Catholic, didn’t quite know how to answer his questions. He’d try to ask his dad and I, to engage and have an open dialogue with us, and we just didn’t feel prepared for it, so we told him to bring his questions to his religion teacher.”

Clearly, God’s grace was at work in the young boy’s life. He became increasingly attentive during his religion classes, always coming home wanting to share further with his parents. He also began to pray, and Blake notes that he likes to talk about Jesus mostly before bed.

Then, last November, Blake came home one day and assertively said to his mom that he wanted to grow closer to Jesus and be baptized. Having little perspective on what baptism really entailed, Brandy contacted his religion teacher to learn more. From there, they met with Fr Lawrence Odoemena, the parish priest at St. Mary’s Church in Beaverlodge.

Blake had never seen a baptism before so he too was unsure of what to expect. But when Fr. Lawrence asked about his baptism, Blake decided he did not want it to be a private affair, but wanted this moment to be a witness to his classmates.

“Fr. Lawrence asked when I wanted to get baptized – at Mass, when no one is around, or at school. And I said at school,” said Blake, hoping this would make his baptism an inspiration for others, especially other youth and his peers at school.

This is only an excerpt. Read the full story in the May 2025 edition of Northern Light