Baptism, usually of adults, is a significant segment during the Easter Vigil, celebrated the Saturday evening before Easter Sunday. (GRETCHEN R. CROWE | CATHOLIC HERALD)
As new Catholics are sprinkled with holy water and smudged with the
oil of chrism Saturday at the Easter Vigil, many family members will
witness the event from front and center, cameras at the ready.
Through their example of faith, these parents, spouses, children and cousins
have been the driving force behind their loved ones’ journey to conversion.
“God was working through them.”
That’s Jinet Lopez, 36, a soon-to-be recipient of her first Communion and
confirmation on Saturday at St. Matthew Parish in Spotsylvania. The “them” are
her two “very religious, very faithful” cousins, one of whom is her
sponsor.
For years these extended family members have encouraged Lopez to learn more about
the Catholic faith of her baptism — but she wasn’t interested.
“I’ve always been struggling somewhat,” Lopez said. “I
know I’ve always had the Holy Spirit guiding me throughout my life, but
there was always something inside of me missing. They somehow persuaded me.”
She finally was inspired to take the plunge when her sponsor told her that a
special bond is formed with God upon receiving the Eucharist.
“It finally dawned on me that that’s what I was missing in my life,” Lopez
said.
After months of preparation through the Rite of Christian Initiation (RCIA),
Lopez is more than ready.
“I’ve learned to put God first,” she said. “I decided
to do this first and foremost for Him and second for myself.”
More than a dozen of Lopez’s family members will be on hand for the celebration,
some of whom, like herself, were never fully received into the Church. She’s
trying to change that.
“I’m trying to guide people back,” Lopez said. “Everything
I’ve learned, I’ve tried to teach the rest of the family.”
Like her cousins, she is becoming God’s instrument.
“I think God’s working through me to get to them also,” she
said.
“It’s belief by example.”
That’s Karen Rocha, a parishioner at St. Andrew the Apostle Parish in Clifton
who was baptized Catholic at last year’s Easter Vigil. Entering the Church
at her side was her granddaughter, Brianna Carrazana, now 12.
Farrah Carrazana — Rocha’s daughter and Brianna’s mother — took
her time, waiting another year to be baptized; this Saturday she will be received
fully into the Church.
“I couldn’t appreciate it more than at this age,” she said.
Her choice to go through the RCIA program this year is one she highly attributes
to the example set by her mother and daughter.
“You see the drive in them, the motivation in them (and) you wonder, ‘what
am I missing all this time?’” Farrah said. “They’ve been
walking around with this confidence as if they’ve had the answer all along.”
Brianna’s excitement, especially, was catching.
“She was so gung ho about it that it sparked something in me,” Farrah
said. “I am more than excited.”
Rocha has taken advantage of Brianna’s spring break this week to immerse
her granddaughter in Holy Week activities, from confession at the National Shrine
of the Immaculate Conception in Washington to a visit to the Franciscan Monastery.
Being able to share these experiences with her daughter and granddaughter is
a joy that she is unable to put into words without tears.
“I have never been happier in my life,” Rocha said. “There’s
no going back.”
“I wanted to stand up with her.”
That’s John Naylor, a parishioner from All Saints Parish in Manassas, who
was baptized at the Easter Vigil in April 1999 because he wanted to be able to
receive Communion with his then-7-year-old daughter, Rebecca.
Though his conversion officially took place almost a decade ago, Naylor still
remembers the feeling of calm he felt.
“It felt like the weight of the world was lifted off my shoulder,” he
said.
Every year since he entered the Church, Naylor has been active in the RCIA process
as a sponsor of participants in the RCIA group that has become like a family
to him.
“I wanted to give back to the Church and to the community,” he said.
Give back he has, sponsoring 10 catechumens and candidates over the years.
“To help people come into the Faith and come into the Church gives me great
joy,” Naylor said. “I still get goose bumps every Easter Vigil.”
Through his activity in the RCIA program, Naylor has, in turn, led by example.
Rebecca, now 16, has been a sponsor for two years and his son Joey, 15, will
take on his first sponsor duties in September.
“It’s going to be a family affair,” John said.
Maris Mattingly, RCIA coordinator at All Saints, said it’s common to see
family members, be they spouses, parents or children, influenced by one another.
Witnessing the Church’s traditions and the devotion of those around them
is “contagious,” she said. “Sometimes the fire starts at the
other end of the family. Sometimes it starts with the youth.”
Reflections of God
Saturday’s annual Easter Vigil is a time for those being baptized, confirmed
or receiving their first Communion to “rise free from sin to a new life,” said
Father Paul deLadurantaye, diocesan director of Sacred Liturgy.
It’s a tradition that goes back to the early centuries of the Church, stemming
from “baptism and its association with the passion and the resurrection
of Christ,” he said.
This year, this tradition will continue around the diocese, the country and the
world, as people like Jinet Lopez and Farrah Carrazana enter into full communion
with the Church —while cousins, children, parents and sponsors, like the
Naylors, look on.
Through these families and others, God’s presence will be evident, Mattingly
said.
“Everybody around you is reflecting God back and forth,” she said. “There’s
going to be no one at any Easter Vigil anywhere that’s not going to be
smiling.”
Gretchen R. Crowe can be reached at gcrowe@catholicherald.com.
