God Parents: What are their roles?

Baptism is the essential sacrament to becoming a Christian. Baptism is what allows us to be called “children of God.” Without Baptism, we are CREATURES made in the image and likeness of God. With Baptism, we are HEIRS to a kingdom. Baptism is when we sign the adoption paperwork. Who is present at our Baptism: parents, ordained minister, and God parents.

Parents and priest are easy enough to explain. The ordained minister (deacon, priest, or Bishop) have the authority unique to the sacraments of Holy Orders. The ordained minister is able to deliver sacraments, because they were given the authority from their bishop and the bishop from the line of apostolic succession all the way back to Saint Peter the first pope. All seven sacraments are infused with divine grace. No human would have the power to do what the sacraments do WITHOUT THE AUTHORITY OF CHRIST. Baptism has the lowest bar of entry. All you need is clean water, the words of Baptism, and a person with the intent to be Baptized into God’s Church.

You have asked to have your child baptized. In doing so you are accepting the responsibility of training him (her) in the practice of the faith. It will be your duty to bring him (her) up to keep God’s commandments as Christ taught us, by loving God and our neighbor. Do you clearly understand what you are undertaking?

Rite of Christian Baptism for Catholic Church

Infant Baptism pose a frequent objection. How could a baby (who can’t even hold up their head)have the intent to be Baptized? That is why the parents must bring their child to Baptism. Parents are there to provide for the consent of the child. They are allowed to consent, because they promise to raise their child in the faith. The parents promise that they will instill a religious fervor in their child that the child will always, and without regret or doubt, live a Christian life. Without the parents promise to raise their child in the faith, then infant Baptism cannot be done.

Why are the God Parents there? The rite of Christian Baptism consistently references both the parents and God parents. Like below:

Dear parents and GOD PARENTS: You have come here to present this child for baptism. By water and the Holy Spirit he (she) is to receive the gift of new life from God, who is love.

On your part, you must make it your constant care to bring him (her) up in the practice of the faith. See that the divine life which God gives him (her) is kept safe from the poison of sin, to grow always stronger in his (her) heart.

Rite of Christian Baptism for Catholic Church

What role do the God Parents play that the child’s parents cannot? The parents must instruct the child. Instruction can take the form of lessons, but more often than not it must take the form of witness and example. If the parents provide a poor or lukewarm witness/example, then the child will surely not become an inspired Christian. That is a lot of pressure on the parents. How does the Roman Catholic Church relieve the pressure? God Parents.

Make the lives of his (her) parents and godparents examples of faith to inspire this child.

Rite of Christian Baptism for Catholic Church

Christian parents must raised their child in the faith. The child is burdened with listening to the voices of God, the World, and the Devil. Often time, our relationships with our parents corrupt our relationship with God. If our relationship with our parents become tainted, then the child is vulnerable to never embracing truly the graces given to them at Baptism. Unfortunately, Parents are themselves images of God tainted by Original Sin and can under perform their Christian duties.

God willing, the parents are devout and true followers of Christ. More often, parents become the cause of children losing their faith. This is not a 21st century problem. The failure of parents goes as far as back to at least the times of Isaiah, “Can a mother forget the baby at her breast and have no compassion on the child she has borne? Though she may forget, I will not forget you!” (Isaiah 49:15) Clearly, bad parenting is a consistent problem in the church.

The Catholic Church recognizes this and provides assistance: God parents. God parents serve as a safety valve of sorts. If the parents fail, then the God parents will be their to catechize, pray, and pray some more for their god child. They perform the role of support for the parents in a particular way. All members of the Body of Christ are meant to help each other towards salvation. But the God parents are personally tasked, by the parents of child, to bring Christ to their God child.

Parents and godparents, this light is entrusted to you to be kept burning brightly. This child of yours has been enlightened by Christ. He (she) is to walk always as a child of the light. May he (she) keep the flame of faith alive in his (her) heart. When the Lord comes, may he (she) go out to meet him with all the saints in the heavenly kingdom.

Rite of Christian Baptism for Catholic Church

The God parents are representatives of the entire community of the Catholic Church. A child will have a personal relationship with their parents and a personal relationship with the Triune God. Will they have a personal relationship with the Roman Catholic Church? God parents are supposed to provide the comfort of an ambassador. Ambassadors provide familiarity in a foreign land. The God parents are like ambassadors in the sense that they provide a bridge between the Domestic Church and the Universal Church.

God parents serve as a further example to their God child. The child will eventually ask, “How is a person supposed to live in this world corrupted by sin and still be a good Christian?” One answer will be how the God parents live. The God parents, at the bare minimum, live in a state of grace and shows their devotion to God without shame. Does that sound like your God parent?

Unfortunately, the typical American Catholic does not have a strong God parents to rely on. The Average Catholic, as I want to profess, would have a plethora of Catholic role models that they could turn to. We are all struggling with sin, but God parents have a particular moral obligation to provide a satisfactory witness to their God child. If you are a God parent, then pray for your God child and act like the Christian that you want THEM to be. Do you have God parents? Then, call them and ask about their Christian life. Remind them of their obligation to raise their god child in the faith.

Baptism brings us into the Body of Christ. The Body of Christ is filled with gifts and blessings that are unique. The God parents are meant to highlight this diversity. The parents may raise their child one way, but the god parents live another way. The child will see that there is more than one way to live the Christian faith. There is many parts in the Body of Christ and each one serves the Lord Almighty.

As a prisoner for the Lord, then, I urge you to live a life worthy of the calling you have received. Be completely humble and gentle; be patient, bearing with one another in love. Make every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace. There is one body and one Spirit, just as you were called to one hope when you were called; one Lord, one faith, one baptism; one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all.

Ephesians 4:1-6