Archive for the ‘Sponsors’ Category

Sunday mornings were a whirlwind of drama when I was a kid. My mother, a single parent, was like a hen trying to round up her uncooperative chicks to get us to Mass each week. I think of those days when I read in the RCIA, “The Church, like a mother, helps the catechumens on [...]

One of the most challenging duties for sponsors is to model an apostolic lifestyle for the catechumens (see RCIA 75.4). Most sponsors live an apostolic lifestyle, but if you asked them to describe what that looked like or how they do it, they might have some difficulty. Why an RCIA sponsor’s lifestyle is so important [...]

RCIA sponsors are supposed to be good examples. It says so right there in RCIA 75.2: As they become familiar with the Christian way of life, and are helped by the example and support of sponsors, godparents, and the entire Christian community, the catechumens learn to turn more readily to God in prayer, to bear [...]

If you are feeling overwhelmed—or even just “whelmed”—with your responsibilities on the RCIA team, you may not be asking enough of the RCIA sponsors. The sponsors have a significant, three-part role to play in the formation of the catechumens. Among their responsibilities is to assist the catechumens on their faith journey. The RCIA is silent [...]

I sometimes wonder if we ask enough of RCIA sponsors. In quite a few parishes, sponsors are not required to do very much. They are asked to be present for the public rituals. But if they cannot make it, a proxy is provided. They are asked to participate in the catechetical sessions, but if they [...]

Perhaps we need a new model for thinking about the role of RCIA sponsors. The model that many parishes have is something like a friend who drops by occasionally. Granted, many of you have deeper expectations than that of the sponsors in your process. But that fact that a profound commitment from sponsors is seen [...]

A friend of mine is getting married this summer, and she asked me to meet with her and her fiancé to help them think about any issues they should be discussing before the wedding. I have to tell you, I was a little nervous. I’ve been married before, and the fact that I’m not now [...]

Recently, I was at a liturgy with what appeared to be some unsponsored catechumens. Perhaps they had sponsors, and the sponsors were just absent that day. Still, I wondered how that happened. In sponsor training sessions, it is important to emphasize the crucial role sponsors play on Sundays. Here are nine tasks for sponsors to [...]

An essential skill for sponsors, and any catechumenate team member, is the ability to actively listen. Active listening is different than hearing. An active listener succeeds in hearing not only the words another person is saying but also understanding the meaning of the words from the speaker’s point of view. Active listening is not a [...]

The ideal sponsor is someone fully immersed in their Catholic faith, and it’s wonderful when you have sponsors like this. In my experience, however, sponsors are sometimes not much more catechized than the catechumens. When that is the case, the sponsor coordinator is really a sponsor to the sponsors. If you find yourself working with [...]