If you’re a lifelong Catholic, chances are you’ve noticed that too many of the faces who stand for Confirmation each year seem to disappear from Mass, perhaps only to be seen again in time to get married.
In today’s piece Don’t Treat Confirmation Like Graduation, Philip Kosloski explores the relationships between confirmand and sponsor, writing:
How a sponsor lives his faith will have an eternal effect on their candidate. The greatest gift a sponsor can give is a radiant life, filled with the grace of God.
For many confirmands, the relationship with their sponsor ends soon after their Confirmation ceremony, but this is not what was intended. It is the responsibility of our sponsors to guide us on our path to spiritual growth, even after Confirmation. They are our first emissaries to the adult Community within our parishes; as with most first impressions, it will set the tone of our faith for years to come.
Catechists instruct their students to choose a sponsor who is a witness of faith in their lives. This basic standard is even reflected in canon law, where it says that sponsors must “be a Catholic who … leads a life in harmony with the faith and the role to be undertaken.”
And today we celebrate...