Do You Need Godparents?

[LouisvilleFan]

Consider it an opportunity to get connected with another couple in your parish. We should not allow ourselves to be strangers with the Catholics nearest us.

[havok579257]

[quote name='LouisvilleFan' date='06 June 2010 - 02:11 PM' timestamp='1275847871' post='2124650']
Consider it an opportunity to get connected with another couple in your parish. We should not allow ourselves to be strangers with the Catholics nearest us.
[/quote]


getting to know someone in your parish and having them be the godparents to your child is a very big difference.

[LouisvilleFan]

[quote name='havok579257' date='06 June 2010 - 06:42 PM' timestamp='1275860566' post='2124847']
getting to know someone in your parish and having them be the godparents to your child is a very big difference.
[/quote]

Just being positive about the situation... there's only one way to get to know people, which is getting to know people.

[Lil Red]

[quote name='havok579257' date='05 June 2010 - 10:08 PM' timestamp='1275800927' post='2124477']
and now we are back to square one. asking random strangers to be a part of our child's baptism. a person who will have nothing to do with our child's up bringing and life. just seems wierd to me. to me it seems no different than having a non practicing catholic or non catholic chirstian be a godparent. i mean niether of the 3 are going to be involved in our childs spiritual life and up bringing. seems really wierd to have a random person be there or in some cases be a real godparent and then after the baptism, have nothing to do with the child's life. i mean is that any better than a non practicing catholic or a non catholic christian? niether of the three will be involved in their spiritual life.
[/quote]
how friendly are you with your priest? our first, a girl, her godfather is a priest.

[Lilllabettt]

My baby brother was six months old and over due for his baptism. (Or rather his "church" baptism. My mother had already secretly baptized him "just in case" in the family bathtub ... as she had all of us. This remained a secret until she mentioned it to me in passing, last summer)

Dear old Mom got it into her head that he should be baptized at St. Patrick's Cathedral in New York City. So she dressed us all up and drove up there, knocked on someone's door and asked to have him baptized. She was told, of course, that this was highly irregular; that it had to be in her home parish, that there were preparation classes necessary, and there had to be Godparents and arrangements, etc.

Poor Ma threw a fit. My Father, the nominal Protestant, only said: "Jesus would do it." And so the Bishop's secretary grabbed a seminarian who happened to be present and made him the Godfather.

Neat story, huh?

[Slappo]

[quote name='havok579257' date='05 June 2010 - 09:22 PM' timestamp='1275801722' post='2124483']
easier said than done. the church picks someone at random. how is the church supposed to know to pick someone who i might start a friendship with. unless the person has some of the same intrests as me, its not going to work. forcing a friendship is not going to work. not to mention i could easily get stuck with one of the people who say they are catholic, go to mass all the time but yet don't follow all catholic teachings such as brth control or confession or communion. its more likely this person will be at my child's baptism and after that we will never speak other than a hello at mass. to me, that seems wierd. why even have a person stand in or be a true godparent when everyone involved knows that more than likely this godparent or stand in will have nothing to do with the childs life after the ceremony? what is the point of even having any godparents if they are going to have nothing to do with the child's life? i don't understand why my wife and i are not enough to get our child baptized? why do we need a total stranger to be a godparent or stand in.

should i even bring up the topic of the lady we can get to be our child's godparent. she lives in another state. my wife see's her once a year for a day or two. i see here every couple of years for a hour or two. due to her distance she is going to have nothing to do with our child's spiritual growth, yet somehow she makes a good godparent? makes no sense to me.
[/quote]


A godparent need not interact on a daily or regular basis, or even ever meet the child to be a good godparent. If you and your spouse were to ever die, it is the godparent's duty to see that the child is continued to be raised Catholic. Distance does not prevent a godparent from having masses offered for his godchildren nor does it prevent the godparent from praying daily for the salvation of the child's soul. Above all you want a devout godparent who is concerned with your child's soul. Being close to you is not nearly as important as the godparents desire to help your child reach heaven.

[OnlySunshine]

[quote name='havok579257' date='05 June 2010 - 06:17 PM' timestamp='1275776270' post='2124234']
Our son is almost here and of course he will be getting baptized. Now from my understanding, you don't have to have godparents. IS this correct? I ask because everyone we know does not meet the godparent requirment. All mny wife's family are non-catholic christian's and all my catholic family members are not actively practicing. Even our catholic friends are not really praciticing.

So just wanted to make sure that I am thinking right here and we are not required to have godparents to get our child baptized?
[/quote]

Worst case scenario (or best, however you see it), you could always ask the priest baptizing to be the godparent. Or see if he can recommend someone in your parish.