A couple months ago I attended the baptism of my first godchild, Kenzo (whom I call ‘Vader’). This is the first time that someone had trusted me to be the godparent for their child, and I was honored. However, due to scheduling problems, I was not able to attend any of the pre-baptism classes that they had for future godparents.

However, when I went to the ceremony, they gave us some cards that outlined our responsibilities as godparents:

To be chosen as a godparent is a special honor. You, above all others, have been entrusted with a special responsibility: participating in the child’s Christian life, formation and education.

This privilege offers you an opportunity to develop a mutually enriching spiritual relationship…one that hopefully will last through your life time.

There are special things that I’m sure the parish will tell you about in some classes or the day of the baptism [and its rehearsal]. Each parish does unique things for the ritual, such as dressing the child, holding a candle, being responsible in getting the certificate to the parents, etc. Other things that you can do are:

Celebrate the anniversary of this holy day of holy baptism each year with a visit, call, email, or card or all of the above! Also, remember the actual birthday each year. Other visits from the godparent through the year can be special (like going to an amusement park, a special mass or holy day event, etc.).

As your godchild grows, it can be very helpful for you to share in the struggles and triumphs of living the Christian life by keeping yourself informed and updated on the Catholic faith, its doctrine, values, and the bishops teaching, you can be a resource person for the godchild.

Encourage a consistent life of faith through special letters, gifts or holy events, like Christmas, Easter, anniversaries, and also by remembering their graduation, confirmation, first communion, first penance, first job, car, engagement and other events. Sharing a Christian gift [such as a bible, rosary or other religious articles, writing a letter for a retreat, or helping them pay to go on a retreat] are very meaningful and demonstrate your importance in their developing faith.

Being supportive to the godchild’s parents is especially important. They are the primary religious educators of their child. Your support of this means a lot!

Encouraging and being supportive of the godchild’s religious education is also important by being a model of Christian daily prayer, active participation in the parish, by attending liturgy, etc.

Wow! That’s a lot of responsibilities. All I remember from my godparents growing up was an extra-expensive Christmas present. One of my godparents I haven’t seen in about 20 years.

Also, for some reason, I thought that the godparent is someone who gets to have your kid if you should meet an untimely demise. That isn’t mentioned here, did anyone else think that?

So I’m going to try and be the best godparent ever. I will try and guide my little godson into my interpretation of what it is to be a good Catholic. By ‘my interpretation’ I mean that I’m going to teach him about the values and morality of being a good person, but that the Catholic Church itself may still be trying to figure out issues like accepting homosexuals and that Harry Potter isn’t evil, even though the Pope may think so. Also, birth control education is a necessity (even though the church doesn’t think so) because abstinence is not an easy choice for an incredibly hormonal teenager to make.

On the anniversary of his baptism, he’ll get a “Happy Baptism Anniversary!” card…oh wait, they don’t make those. Guess I’ll just have to photoshop one myself…Also, I’ll try and get together with my fellow godparents, Dave, Marlon and Tracy, to hold annual plays about various events in the Christian faith, like “The Nativity Play”, “Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat”, “Noah’s Ark” (starring various pets, like Ewok, Luscious, Caleb, Oliver and Sunny), “Making Wine at the Wedding”, “Sodom and Gomorrah”, and other Bible hits.

Yes, I’m going to ROCK as a godparent!

Me and My Fellow Godparent, Marlon

Me and My Godson, Kenzo

Tags: Daily //