Becoming an RCIA Sponsor - What Does That Truly Mean

Well my husband, Michael, and I were going to find out.

 

First things first. We googled ‘RCIA sponsor’ and read that the role of a sponsor is one of a spiritual friend, of support and care. Sponsors are usually delegated by the local parish community to take an active and supportive role as companions, witnesses and guides for those seeking to join the Catholic Church. A sponsor helps the candidate discover the Church as a living, practical, day to day reality. A sponsor presents the needs of his or her candidate to God daily in prayer.

Well so far so good.

 

How does the ‘candidate’ see the role of the sponsor. Off to google again to be enlightened. The candidate should select someone whose Catholic faith they admire, who is willing and able to become personally involved in their preparation, and who will model a strong Catholic life for them.

Well so far not so good. With that definition, will anyone choose us as a sponsor.

So armed with this information and a personal invitation from Joan Robertson our RCIA Coordinator, off we went to our first meeting and subsequent meetings.

We were pleasently surprised, not only with having the privilege of journeying with our candidate, but also enriching and growing our own faith, so that we (through our own journey) can ultimately become the Catholic whose faith they admire. It was a real honour to have been asked to be a sponsor and seeing our candidates themselves grow and model a strong Catholic faith.

So if you are asked to be a sponsor, don’t worry that you may not initially have the Catholic faith that someone admires, but through the journey with the candidate, you will both grow in faith and benefit from the experience.

On behalf of the sponsors, I would like to thank Joan Robertson for her support, guidance and wisdom and her unwavering belief and faith in each of us. It was personally a very rewarding experience.

Jackie Charles