Gina, please pray for us.

At the Easter Vigil, 2006, our youngest son and his wife became Catholic. He was confirmed, she was baptized and confirmed. They had gone through RCIA, beginning in September 2005. I always pray for my family members to convert to Catholicism, but truthfully, I expected the next converts in our family to be our daughter and her husband (he is already Catholic, so he would be a revert). :o) So I was a bit surprised, but extremely delighted, when our son and daughter-in-law made the decision to attend RCIA and become Catholic. (The Green Scapular played a role in their conversions, but that is a story for another time).

Our oldest son, who was the first of our family to convert, came to the Easter Vigil that night, and so did daughter-in-law's older sister, Gina. She and Jason sat together and witnessed the beautiful sacraments that were bestowed on their siblings that night. We all arrived a bit early that night (my husband and I were the kid's sponsors), so Gina and Jason had the opportunity to talk and get to know each other a little bit. I don't know what their conversation was like, but I know that afterwards, Gina expressed the desire to learn more about Catholicism, and to be baptized.

Gina had a bad heart all of her life, and was the recipient of a heart and lung transplant a few years earlier. At the time of her sister's baptism and confirmation, Gina was having serious problems with her health. When she said that she was interested in going through RCIA, I immediately encouraged her. She said that she would wait until she was feeling better, but she definitely wanted to do it.

During the next year, Gina's fragile body began to reject the transplanted organs. By October, she was in and out of the hospital often. At the end of that month, she was flown to a transplant hospital in Houston where it was hoped she would receive help. It was not to be, however. A day or two later, our DIL flew to Houston when her parents called to say that Gina's condition was deteriorating.

Our DIL called in tears to tell me that it didn't look as though Gina would survive. Her organs were shutting down. She went into a coma, and wasn't expected to live past that day. I told my DIL to find a priest, and to tell him what Gina had told us about wanting to be baptized and confirmed in the Catholic Church. Being a very new Catholic, she wasn't sure how to go about doing that. I told her to go to the nurse's station and tell them that she needed a priest, and they would call one. Thank God, she did that, and by that afternoon, a priest came to see Gina and her family.

Upon learning of Gina's desire to be Catholic, the priest baptized her and performed the last rites. Our DIL answered the questions for Gina, since she was unable to speak. And so, in her last hours, Gina was baptized, which took away all of her sins, and became Catholic. She was given such great graces at the end of her life, and we know that because of that, she is in Heaven. Thanks be to God!

The picture at the top of this post was taken just before the Easter Vigil. Gina is on the left, our DIL is on the right. Gina lived long enough to get to know her little nephew, Reece. She loved him with all her heart, and he loved her. Gina was a blessing to her loved ones, and to all who knew her.

Our DIL and her sister were extremely close, and the loss of Gina is still very painful for DIL and her family, but they have the peace of knowing that she is with our Heavenly Father in Heaven, and that she can intercede for those of us still here on earth.

I believe that God, in His wisdom, brought our youngest son and his wife into the Church sooner than we expected because He knew that it would lead to Gina's conversion, even in the last hours before her death. Because they became Catholic, Gina was saved. Even now, they do not realize the immensity and importance of what it means to be Catholic, but God used their conversion for His own purpose. I pray that in time they will understand, and that they will embrace their beautiful faith more fully.

Gina, please pray for us, especially for Josh, Cyrise and Reece. Amen