If good things come to those who wait, then great things are
in store for Deacon Michael Baggot, a seminarian with the Legionaries of
Christ. After 10 years in formation and studies that took him from Germany to
Mexico to Rome, he is just days from his goal. The Christendom graduate will be
ordained a priest Dec. 16 at the Basilica of St. Paul Outside the Walls in Rome
by Cardinal Giuseppe Bertello, president of the pontifical commission for the
Vatican.
His path to the priesthood was not always so clear. He spent
his early years far from the church. It was his passion for the classics that
first exposed him to Catholic culture and opened his eyes to the reality that
Jesus Christ was more than just a fairy tale.
Deacon Baggot was born in Texas in May 1985, but spent most
of his life in Virginia, where his family moved to be closer to his
grandmother. While his parents were both born Catholic, they had fallen away
from the faith. It was through his grandmother that he caught glimpses of
Catholicism. But while he was very close to her growing up, she never pressured
him to share her beliefs — she only prayed.
With no direction as a child, he drifted into an agnostic
view of God and the world.
“My sensitivity to the beauty of nature and art led me to
conclude the existence of a creator,” said Deacon Baggot. “But I did not
believe that creator had any impact on my life.”
He regarded those with religious beliefs to be good, but
unintelligent, people holding onto a fantasy. But as much as he wanted nothing
to do with religion, he could not avoid the allusions and references to
Catholic culture as he read. He realized if he wanted to teach literature one
day, he needed to learn more about this religion, so he studied it as if it
were mythology.
On one of his many trips to the library he picked up a book
called, Intellectuals Speak Out about God. Opening the cover, he found an
introduction by Ronald Reagan and Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, the future Pope
Benedict XVI.
It slowly was becoming more reasonable to believe in God’s
existence. During high school, he met a friend, one of the smartest people he
knew. The only problem was this friend was a devout Christian.
“I thought if I only just studied the Bible and found the
contradictions, I could save him,” said Deacon Baggot.
In an effort to rescue his friend, Deacon Baggot read the
New Testament and prepared to challenge the book’s main character — it did not
go as planned.
“I was instantly impressed with the person of Christ,” said
Deacon Baggot, who recognized that Christ had solid moral advice that could
help his life. However, he was hesitant
to accept the miracles and other supernatural aspects of the text. He needed
more information and headed to the local bookstore.
Among the countless books on religion and mythology, a
little volume called Mere Christianity by C.S. Lewis caught his eye.
“I had enjoyed Narnia so I knew he was an excellent writer,
and it was a small book, so I thought ‘this couldn’t hurt,’” said Deacon
Baggot. “C.S. Lewis ruined everything,” he laughed. “I’m one of the many
victims of Lewis.” The book helped him understand the deepest truths of the
faith.
“C.S. Lewis says ‘We cannot look at Christ as just a good
man,’” said Deacon Baggot. “‘He is either Lord, Lunatic or Liar.’”
At this point, the high school student respected Jesus too
much to believe he was a lunatic or a liar.
“It brought me tremendous peace,” said Deacon Baggot. “In
the quiet moments, I think most high school students wonder if there is more to
life than the weekend. I realized that yes there was. There was so much more.”
But he was not ready for the seminary, far from it.
Thinking of his grandmother, he felt he owed it to himself
to look into the religion of his past. He typed Catholic.com into his browser
and found the Catholic Answers website.
“I found clear and concise answers that went to the core of
the issues,” said Deacon Baggot. “I realized that the Catholic Church was the
church of the Bible, the church of history. I realized that this was home.”
He contacted Father Michael C. Kelly, parochial vicar of
Sacred Heart of Jesus Church in Winchester, and he started the Rite of
Christian Initiation of Adults.
“My senior year, my chief concerns were applying to college,
finding a prom date and RCIA,” said Deacon Baggot.
He received the sacraments and entered into communion with
the church April 19, 2003 at the Easter vigil.
“I remember there being a lot of emotion, both excitement
and joy and gratitude,” said Deacon Baggot. “Above all there was a profound
peace.”
His parents were with him, and while his grandmother was not
mobile enough to come, she was thrilled.
In the fall, he entered Mary Washington College in
Fredericksburg, where he met a great group of young Catholics who taught him
what it meant to live out his faith.
“It was a godsend,” he said. “I felt like I attended the
campus ministry and went to class occasionally. It was there that a vocation
really began to emerge.”
During the moments after adoration and Communion, he realized he could bring Christ to others
just as the priest was bringing Christ to the students. But he needed more.
He desired a more Catholic and comprehensive world view in
his education and transferred to Christendom College in Front Royal his
sophomore year.
He thrived in the complete Catholic immersion there, and
while he enjoyed the rigorous schedule of courses, he didn’t want purely the
academic side of Christendom. He wanted it all. He was involved in every aspect
of campus life — the plays, mic nights and the dances. He was active in the
pro-life group, volunteered with the Legion of Mary and was a resident
assistant and summer camp counselor for the Christendom summer program. But no
matter how late the events of the previous night, he could always be found
praying in the chapel early the next morning.
While discerning his vocation to the priesthood, he found
the Legionaries of Christ on a list of recommended vocations on
ratzingerfanclub.com.
He was impressed by the order that seemed to fulfill the
call to the new evangelization by empowering people all over the world to be
leaders in service to the church. He joined the candidacy program the summer of
2008, a year after graduating college.
“I often thank God for the clarity he gave me in my priestly
religious vocation,” said Deacon Baggot. “It has always been a rock for me,
especially during difficulties and tribulations that dealt with the scandals of
the founder. It was key because He was the one who called me. Not the founder.
It gave me the strength to persevere.”
His studies resulted in degrees in philosophy and theology,
as well as bioethics and medical ethics. He has served as a correspondent for
the UNESCO Chair in Bioethics and Human Rights since 2011; contributed to the
journal of religion and public life First Things; and began teaching at the
Pontifical University Regina Apostolorum. He also enjoys singing in the choir,
playing basketball and giving tours at the Vatican.
“I’m very grateful to be a child of the Arlington Diocese. I
look forward to the day I celebrate Mass at Sacred Heart Church, Christendom
and the Catholic Campus Ministry.”
He hopes to celebrate his first Mass Dec. 17 at the Church
of the Trinity of the Pilgrims in Rome.
After ordination he will continue to work as an assistant
professor of bioethics at the university, while also finishing a dissertation
on bioethics.
He calls it, “The beginning of a new adventure.”
