December 15th, 2019

I am frequently asked to sign a form for a person attesting that he/she is an active Catholic so that he/she can be a godparent or sponsor for the Baptism or Confirmation of a child. But so often the person making the request, in fact, is NOT an active Catholic. He or she may be a very nice person, very involved in the civic community, or a favorite aunt or uncle, but not an active Catholic. Maybe they were baptized Catholic but have not been active in the Church for a long time.  So, to ask me to sign such a form would be asking me to lie. A sponsor or godparent for a sacrament in our Catholic community is supposed to be a good example of what it means to be an active Catholic. And what is an “active Catholic” today? First of all, it does not mean a perfect Catholic. We are all sinners striving to become saints. So, no one should be surprised that we all fall short of any definition of active Catholic from time to time. We always used to use the six precepts of the Church to help us identify an active Catholic. (Google them if you forgot them and see if you are measuring up.) But in our modern, secular and hectic world, we may need some new perspectives. The Eucharist is still an essential mark of our Catholic community. It is “the source and summit” of our spiritual identity and relationship to Christ. Yet, so many of our Catholics no longer attend Mass. So, to expect them to go from NEVER attending to attending EVERY Sunday may be a tall order. I have frequently suggested – hopefully in a pastoral and non-judgmental way - that folks who have fallen away should try to attend Sunday Mass at least more often than not. That would mean joining the community for Mass at least a couple times a month. From my experience, this would be the minimum for someone to consider himself/herself an “active Catholic.” I would also encourage the “fallen away” Catholic to become involved in some service effort of the community, if he/she is not already. For someone to be an active Catholic, he/she needs to demonstrate a sincere appreciation for these two key elements of our faith—Eucharist and service. Anything less for a baptized Catholic makes him/her an “inactive” Catholic, one who may be a good person and still access the services of the Church (e.g., last rites, funeral, Christmas & Easter, etc.) but probably not a good prospect to be a sponsor or godparent for a young child.