What does a Confirmation Sponsor Do?
- Each sponsor will receive a Sponsor's Guide when their candidate enters 8th grade. This guide will follow their Confirmation prep, and will help you as the sponsor to fulfill your role. The Sponsor Guide will be discussed at the October 27th Sponsor Meeting.
- Brings the candidate to receive the sacrament
- Presents to candidate to the minister for anointing
- Helps them to fulfill their baptismal promises faithfully under the influence of the Holy Spirit whom they have received
- Takes care that the confirmed person behaves as a true witness of Christ and faithfully fulfills the obligations inherent in this sacrament
What are the Requirements to be a Sponsor?
- Be at least 16 years of age and sufficiently mature to undertake the responsibilities mentioned above
- Be a Catholic who has been confirmed and has already received the most holy sacrament of the Eucharist and who leads a life of faith in keeping with the function to be taken on
- A life in keeping with the functions to be taken on includes weekly participation in Holy Mass and regular use of the sacrament of Confession.
- If the sponsor is married, he or she must be married according to the laws of the Catholic Church. If the sponsor is unmarried, he or she must be living a chaste single life.
- The sponsor may be of either gender, regardless of the gender of the candidate
- The sponsor may not be the parent of the candidate
- Each sponsor should affirm these requirements by signing the Sponsor Verification Form, and having the priest of their home parish sign it, and affix the parish seal.
What is Confirmation?
There are many misconceptions about what Confirmation is. Read more about these HERE.
In the Old Testament the prophets announced that the Spirit of the Lord would rest on the awaited Messiah and on the entire messianic people. The whole life and mission of Jesus were carried out in total communion with the Holy Spirit. The apostles received the Holy Spirit at Pentecost and proclaimed “the great works of God” (Acts 2:11). They gave the gift of the same Spirit to the newly baptized by the laying on of hands. Down through the centuries, the Church has continued to live by the Spirit and to impart him to her children.
The effect of Confirmation is a special outpouring of the Holy Spirit like that of Pentecost. This outpouring impresses on the soul an indelible character and produces a growth in the grace of Baptism. It roots the recipient more deeply in divine sonship, binds him more firmly to Christ and to the Church and reinvigorates the gifts of the Holy Spirit in his soul. It gives a special strength to witness to the Christian faith. (Taken from the Compendium of the Catechism of the Catholic Church, 265, 268)
Tips for Sponsors
- Pray regularly for your candidate. Consider praying daily one of the traditional prayers to the Holy Spirit.
- Pray with your candidate.
- Attend Mass with your candidate.
- Go to the sacrament of Confession with your candidate.
- Discuss with the candidate what they are learning in their preparation classes.
- Discuss with your candidate the difference a relationship with Christ makes and the difference belonging to the Catholic Church makes in your life.
- Discuss with your candidate your own positive experiences of the sacramental life, Mass, Confession, prayer, and personal devotions.
- Encourage your candidate in the moral life and the struggle against sin and temptation.
- Take this opportunity of being a Confirmation sponsor to deepen your own commitment to being a disciple of Christ, and learning about the Catholic Faith.
