Pandemic places one more obstacle on St. Patrick parishioner's lifelong path toward baptism

Courtesy photo/Alisa Vigil

+ Enlarge

SALT LAKE CITY — As a nurse at the University of Utah Medical Center, Alisa Vigil has already experienced some of the impact of the coronavirus pandemic. While she is not scheduled to work directly with infected patients at this time, she knows that can easily change.

The virus has not only aff ected her professionally but personally, too. Vigil was scheduled to be baptized at the Cathedral of the Madeleine during the Easter Vigil, something that has now been put on indefi nite hold. The delay first threw her for a curve, but Vigil has received answers to her prayers and a witness from God that she will be baptized when the time is right, she said.

Vigil is used to experiencing detours in her life, and even while pursuing her membership in the Church, she said. While her father was a Catholic and she occasionally attended Mass with friends, she was never baptized. At the age of 12, with the support of her father’s cousin, she began RCIA classes, but dropped out shortly before she would have been baptized. Later, after the family moved back to Utah from California, she began attending religious education classes with a friend, Blanca. She even considered having Blanca’s parents be her godparents, but again it didn’t feel right, she said.

For the next 30 years or so, Vigil occasionally attended Mass, but never again felt close to making the commitment to becoming Catholic. Then, in September 2018, her mother died eight days after being diagnosed with cancer. Instead of being bitter at the sudden loss, Vigil felt gratitude to her heavenly Father.

“I believe that God is merciful, and he showed me he is merciful by the way he did not make my mother suff er with that illness,” she said. “He showed me he is forgiving, and that he will do what’s best for his flock.”

Her mother’s death led her to realize it was time for her to take responsibility for her faith, she said. Vigil renewed her determination to be baptized, but four months after her mother’s death, her faith was shaken when her 26-year-old niece was murdered.

“I questioned whether God really was merciful, then,” Vigil said. “I wasn’t sure I full-heartedly believed, but God answered me. He told me, ‘No, I am merciful; I needed this child.’”

God renewed her faith, she said. “I was thinking, ‘It doesn’t seem fair; it doesn’t seem like it’s worth it,’ but he let me know it is: ‘I’m worth you following me; I’m worth your soul. You are my child and I’ll protect you.’”

Instead of turning away from God, Vigil turned toward him and the Church. She wanted to be baptized, and she knew just who her godmother should be: Linda Bruemmer, 16, a close family friend.

"I’ve known Linda her whole life, and as committed as she is to the Church, I knew it was as important to her to be my godmother as it was for me,” she said. “My spirit told me, ‘She’s the one; she’s the one to protect your soul. She’s the one to keep teaching you.’”

Bruemmer is honored both that Vigil chose her to be her godmother and to learn that she has been an example in the faith, she said.

“When I first started getting involved in our Church, [Alisa] was also interested in getting involved,” Bruemmer said. “It really impacted her how I felt so strong about how much my religion means to me.”

On her journey to baptism, Vigil has herself been a power in the lives of those around her, said Anthony Martinez, St. Patrick Parish’s director of religious education.

“She is definitely a woman of heart, and she’s doing this for her love of God and for her soul, not to just receive a sacrament,” he said. “She has had a little bit of trouble, but she has embraced that going through this process this year. She has loved going through it even though she has faced some difficult situations, but she has learned from those.”

One of the situations Martinez referred to was an unexpected impediment. As she began taking the RCIA classes, Vigil’s pastor informed her she would need to find resolution for a 20-year relationship she had been in, even though it had ended five years previously. While Vigil never married the man and they were never registered as commonlaw spouses, they did have a child together, and her pastor was concerned the two could be considered married in the eyes of the Church.

Vigil pursued legal avenues until she was able to show diocesan representatives that no legal or binding relationship existed between the two.

With that obstacle cleared away, Vigil moved ahead on the path to baptism. On Feb. 29 she participated in the Rite of Election at the Cathedral of the Madeleine, and was eagerly anticipating her Easter baptism when the coronavirus shut down that possibility for the immediate future.

The delay has been hard, Vigil admitted, but said she has been taking her Bible to work since the coronavirus has hit the United States and has been comforted by regularly reading in its pages.

Like many healthcare professionals, she has been concerned for her own safely and that of her family and co-workers, but “I was reassured again by our Heavenly Father that it was going to be OK,” she said. “Also, as devastating as it was knowing I will not be baptized at Easter, I do know I’m on the right Christian path; I know I’m going in the right direction to fi nd God and to be one of his sheep. I know I’m going to be baptized when it is time and I know I’m going to get past this and the Word of the Lord has given me the strength to know that.”

“Keep your faith and keep praying because prayer is powerful,” she urged those who feel challenged by the fears surrounding the coronavirus and by being isolated from the Church during this time.

The director of the Diocese of Salt Lake City’s Offi ce of Worship, Ruth Dillon, echoed Vigil’s sentiments. “Although the Sacraments of Initiation, which are normally celebrated at the Easter Vigil, will be postponed, and most of us will celebrate virtually, the true meaning of Easter, the Resurrection and God’s promise of eternal life does not change,” she said. “Christ is risen, and will always be among us today, tomorrow and forever. Let us continue to pray for all those who are preparing to enter the Church as we look forward to the time when we can celebrate with them the grace-filled Sacraments of Baptism, Confi rmation and Eucharist.