Youth Supplement

A sponsor’s gift: Sharing the path to a stronger faith

Archbishop Daniel M. Buechlein anoints Cassie Caccavo while her sponsor, Jim Clark, stands by her during the sacrament of confirmation at SS. Peter and Paul Cathedral in Indianapolis. Cassie and Clark are members of St. Simon the Apostle Parish in Indianapolis. (Submitted photo)

By Peter Jansen (Special to The Criterion)

Who is your confirmation sponsor?

It’s a question that many of us have heard as we start the process to be confirmed in the Church, a question that is often taken too lightly.

“Teens will choose a certain sponsor because they’re afraid they’ll hurt that person’s feelings [if they don’t],” said Father Rick Ginther, a former director of liturgy and worship for the archdiocese who is now the pastor of St. Patrick and St. Mary Margaret parishes in Terre Haute.

The duty of a confirmation sponsor requires more serious consideration.

“Ever since the beginning of Christianity and of the sacraments, people have always had someone to be a model for them,” said Msgr. Mark Svarczkopf, pastor of Our Lady of the Greenwood Parish in Greenwood.

Father Ginther noted, “Having a companion to be there with you and to answer all your questions truly brings fullness of the Spirit. Fullness of the Spirit enriches oneself.”

Many sponsors likely approach this honor and responsibility with a mixed reaction: “I want to be a good sponsor, but I don’t know what I’m supposed to do for them or how to act.”

The responsibility starts with practicing your faith. It’s the sponsor’s duty to be knowledgeable about Christianity. A sponsor should also be a person of prayer. For it is through prayer that we are brought closer to God and come to know him better.

Being a sponsor also requires listening to the person who will be confirmed. A sponsor should take to heart their questions, concerns, problems, joys and trials. They should be their spiritual stability in times of internal struggle. Trials will come, and it’s only through facing them that one grows stronger.

A person preparing for confirmation may ask, “Why do I need to be confirmed if I was already baptized?”

In confirmation, it is the person being confirmed who says, “It is I who wish to enter further into the divine life of Christ.” It’s not the parents saying those words.

Some people also wonder about the difference between a sponsor and a godparent. The godparent is present during the entire childhood of the godchild and is charged with being a spiritual role model to them. A sponsor is to be open to a youth during a very specific and very special walk of faith of their own choosing. This more intense time of growth leads the two to a deeper spiritual relationship with God and one another.

How should a teen choose a sponsor?

“A sponsor should be someone that you trust, someone you admire as a person of faith, not someone with little connection to their faith or the Church,” Father Ginther said.

Cassie Caccavo had that approach when she was confirmed.

“I chose my sponsor because I knew he had experience and knew about Christianity, and was comfortable talking about his faith,” said Cassie, a senior at Bishop Chatard High School and a member of St. Simon the Apostle Parish in ­Indianapolis. “He knows how important confirmation is and why it’s so important.”

Teens should spend time and think about who their confirmation sponsor should be.

(Peter Jansen is a member of Our Lady of the Greenwood Parish in Greenwood.) †