Dante had Virgil; My Brother has…Me?

“So why did you pick me for your sponsor?” I asked my brother, following the instructions the Director of Religious Ed had given during our last Confirmation preparation meeting.

My brother squirmed in the pew.  “You, um, know a lot about God, and you go to a lot of church stuff, so yeah…”  Zing!  A moment of humility.  The DRE had said the Confirmation candidates had written beautiful reflections about their sponsors and that’s all my brother had come up with?

I smiled anyway.  “Cool.  Thanks.  I’m glad you asked me.”

My brother followed the script and next asked, “What’s it like being a sponsor?”

“Scary,” I replied, making us both laugh.

The requirements for sponsors are pretty simple.  According to the General Introduction of the Rite of Christian Initiation, paragraphs 8 – 10, one must be:

• at least sixteen years old and
• baptized and confirmed and received the Eucharist
• living an upright life
• No penalties (e.g., left the Church, etc.). Therefore, a Catholic who has left the Catholic Church cannot be a sponsor, and cannot be a “Christian witness” if they join another Christian communion.

Dante and Virgil by Eugene Delacroix

Although I fit all these requirements, I know I must seriously conform to “living an upright life.”  If I’m to lead my brother in the next stages of choosing the Church for himself, I need to be a worthy guide.  Dante had Virgil; my brother has…me?  Gulp!

I take being a sponsor seriously, and that’s why it’s scary.  For the rest of our lives, my brother and I will have this additional connection that is not just a familial bond.  He’s seen the worst of me: cranky, angry, sobbing, and worried.  I have to hope he’s seen the best, too, since he asked me to be his sponsor.

The materials I’ve received have not listed what a sponsor does beyond attending meetings and the actual Confirmation with their student.  Here is my personal list of ways to act as a sponsor:

• Pray for my brother more deeply than I have before, encourage him on the path to holiness and true manhood in Christ, and help him avoid pitfalls and sins.
• To do that well, I have to be the best-version-of-myself (as Matthew Kelly calls it).  I need to grow in holiness daily and be a woman who can bring others closer to Christ.
• Attend Mass with him.
• Invite him to talk about faith and ask him questions instead of lecturing.
• Share my Confirmation experience and Confirmation saint (Hi St. Bathildis).
• Receive the Sacrament of Reconciliation and open dialogue about it with him.
• Pray a novena to St. Benjamin (his confirmation saint) together before the Confirmation.

Have you been a Confirmation sponsor?  What are your suggestions for guiding a newly Confirmed Catholic in the faith?  Are there any materials or presents you would recommend for a teenage boy?  Please share!  And please say a prayer for my brother!

00000

Category: Family, Life, Sacraments