Chaplain helps tap ‘great potential for good’ among Legates

Father Chas Canoy, pastor of historic St. John the Evangelist Church in Jackson, MI since 2014 and chaplain of Legatus’ Ann Arbor Chapter since 2013, was named the 2020 Great Lakes Region Chaplain of the Year.

The Philippine-born shepherd grew up in Missouri and had planned to marry and have a business career. In 1998, he became Legatus’ Great Lakes Regional Director; then in 2001, he opted to enter the seminary. He was ordained a priest for the Diocese of Lansing and has served in a variety of assignments.

Tell us about your current parish.

Ours is an 1856 gothic church, the oldest in the Diocese of Lansing. We hope to restore it to its former glory, including the installation of an old E.M. Skinner organ, but our eyes are popping out of their sockets as we realize the rising costs of construction these days.

We are an aged congregation in an economically challenged area, but the Holy Spirit has been renewing the parish. Parishioners have become more invested and formed in the faith, and families and young people are returning or entering the Church. We are focusing more on the depth of our current parishioners’ relationship with our Lord, which is an essential step in getting the parish to be on-mission and about the New Evangelization.

What have you found most challenging and rewarding in the priesthood?

I love seeing the faith of the lay faithful awaken and deepen through transformative experiences of the reality of God. I enjoy seeing the power of the Holy Spirit transform someone who was hopeless or turned in on himself into a new creation who is joyful and desirous of giving himself wholly to God and to others.

It is hard work, however, to cultivate the organizational health of the parish so that we are living the very lives among one another that we are striving to cultivate among the parishioners. But it is paramount work because it is the deepest desire of Jesus that His disciples be one just as the Father and the Son are one.

Why did you want to be involved with Legatus?

Similar to why Tom Monaghan has made it such a big priority in his own life: I see in our members such great potential for good. As Jesus said, “To whom much is given, much is expected” (Luke 12:48). Through the spiritual formation and friendship that Legatus affords its members, much of that potential for good is being fulfilled. That is simply beautiful to behold and witness, and to be a small instrument to help them along in their vocation is so fulfilling to me as a priest.

What has been the focus of your chapter recently?

Our most recent focus has been the fostering of our forums. We focus on deepening those relationships among our members who serve as the spiritual support which is becoming more necessary in a world where living the faith requires courage.

Ann Arbor will also be the host chapter for the 2023 Legatus Summit, and we’ve begun initial discussions as to what that entails.

How do you see Legatus benefiting its members right now?

Meaningful Christian friendships with those who can empathize with the challenges of being a Catholic business leader are essential for Legates lest they feel alone in being a witness in the world for Christ and His Church. Legatus provides that regular spiritual support and fellowship, and it cultivates the virtues of fortitude and perseverance in a cultural climate that can often be antagonistic to the Gospel message and Christian morality.