After Easter Vigil, Richmond teen wants to ‘tell everyone I’m Catholic’

Father Sengole Thomas Gnanaraj baptizes 15-year-old Aubrey Bihl during the Easter Vigil Mass on March 31 at Holy Family Church in Richmond, one of three churches comprising St. Elizabeth Ann Seton Parish in east central Indiana. To her left is her sponsor and uncle, Mark Bihl, and behind the baptismal font is Deacon James Miller, who helped Aubrey on her path to Catholicism. Assisting Father Gnanaraj is altar server Kenny Gihozo. (Submitted photo by Dr. Sam Krutz)

By Natalie Hoefer

It was 17th-century scientist and philosopher Blaise Pascal, a devout French Catholic, who wrote that each person’s heart has a God-shaped hole that only God can fill.

His words apply quite literally to Aubrey Bihl. Born with ventricular septal defect—a hole in the heart—the now healthy 15-year-old is close to the Lord.

“When I pray, I like to just talk to God because I feel like he’s my best friend,” says the soon-to-be sophomore at Seton Catholic High School in Richmond.

There was one time—during the fall of 2022—when Aubrey was angry with God. As with most “besties,” the friendship not only endured but was strengthened—and God filled the hole in her heart with a call to the Catholic faith.

Aubrey was welcomed into the full communion of the Church during the Easter Vigil on March 31 at Holy Family Church, one of St. Elizabeth Ann Seton Parish’s three campuses in Richmond. (Related: See a list of all the new Catholics welcomed into the Church this past Easter)

Vicky Roosa calls Aubrey “the real meal deal.”

“She is an amazing, faith-filled young woman” and “wise beyond her years,” says the parish’s director of religious education. “She loves the Lord.”

‘The baptism never happened’

At just 4-and-a-half months, Aubrey had successful open-heart surgery for her birth defect, allowing her to live a normal life.

That life included faith. With a Catholic dad and a Protestant mom, the family—including Aubrey’s younger brother— alternated each weekend between St. Elizabeth Ann Seton and a non-denominational Christian church.

Despite her parents’ active faith, Aubrey was never baptized. Around the age of 10, she decided to join her mom’s church and started attending baptism preparation classes.

“Then COVID hit, and the baptism never happened,” she says. “After that, I never thought about getting baptized much.”

But Aubrey did realize one thing about her earlier decision to join her mom’s church: “I never felt joyful. It was just something I was just doing.”

Meanwhile, Aubrey was a busy girl.

“My dad said a year after my [open-heart] surgery, the doctor said I could live an active life,” she notes.

And so she did. Tennis, cross country, basketball, 4-H—Aubrey made sure her surgeon’s words were fulfilled.

Then came the “fall” of 2022.

“During the cross country season—I think it was September—I tore my meniscus in my knee and had to have surgery,” Aubrey recalls.

She wasn’t able to run. But it was through the unplanned pause of recuperation that Aubrey began walking the path to Catholicism.

‘I got a lot closer to God’

“When I hurt my knee, I was kind of angry at God,” Aubrey admits. “I didn’t know why it happened, and I was really upset.”

But true to Roosa’s “wise beyond her years” description, the young teen moved from angry to open.

“I realized that [the injury] happened for a reason,” says Aubrey. “God put me through it for some reason, but I didn’t know why. I started praying a lot and felt like I got a lot closer to God.

“Then I started thinking about what church I wanted to get baptized in. I prayed about it a lot, and when people brought up the Catholic Church, I just felt like, ‘That feels right.’ ”

God gave Aubrey special people who inspired her on her journey.

There was the classmate who “seemed so happy” after she became Catholic through the Rite of Christian Initiation of Adults (RCIA).

There was the algebra teacher who “opened every class with a Bible verse, and we’d pray,” she says. “Sometimes he talked about saints. I liked how he did that, and so I talked to him.”

It was also that year that Aubrey’s religion teacher was on maternity leave. Deacon James Miller, a staff member of St. Elizabeth Ann Seton Parish, served as her substitute.

“I felt like him teaching the class brought me closer to God, and so I asked him questions and how to join the Catholic Church.”

Aubrey started RCIA classes at St. Elizabeth Ann Seton in September of 2023.

‘I couldn’t believe how happy I was!’

Around that same time—less than a year after tearing her meniscus—Aubrey sustained a concussion.

“In gym class last August, we were were passing a volleyball around,” she recalls. “A boy spiked it, and it hit me hard in the face. I was on a concussion protocol for seven months. I was cleared in March, but I still take meds and get headaches.”

Unlike with her injury a year earlier, there was no anger with God this time.

“There were no complaints or woe-is-me’s,” says Roosa. “She just picked up her cross and carried it.”

Having been raised around Catholicism, Aubrey says she was familiar with much of the information taught in the RCIA classes.

For instance, she says, “I knew the Eucharist was the body and blood of Christ.

“But in RCIA, it was presented in a way that I was like, ‘Whoa! God really gave his Son, and we’re really taking in his body and his blood!’ ”

She also appreciated those on the RCIA journey with her.

“I liked that there were a bunch of people there with the same goal of growing closer to God and joining the Church,” says Aubrey. “I liked the community. We were all going toward the same goal.”

That goal came to fruition at the Easter Vigil Mass at Holy Family Church on March 31, when Aubrey was baptized, confirmed and received her first Communion.

“When I was baptized, I felt so happy, like, ‘Whoa! I did it!’ I was so happy!” she gushes.

She speaks about receiving the Eucharist with the same exuberance.

“It was joyful, it was amazing—I was overwhelmed with emotions,” Aubrey says. “I was so happy—I couldn’t believe how happy I was! I went back to the pew and just started crying. I think that’s the most I ever cried. I’ve never cried when I was happy before, but I couldn’t stop.

“I still get so happy when I get to go to Communion!”

Aubrey says after the Easter Vigil Mass she “felt like I needed to go tell everyone that I’m Catholic!”

The young woman’s enthusiasm reflects the words of her the confirmation saint she chose, St. Catherine of Siena: “Be who God meant you to be, and you will set the world on fire.” †

 

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