Prayer and Advice Request

By dadwithnoisykids on November 23rd, 2009 | Category: Miscellaneous

Dear brothers:

Today I received a letter from a friend; we are the Godparents for one of their daughters. My friend stated that he and his family were leaving the Catholic Church to join the Anglican Church.

I let him know that as a Godfather I could not let this decision pass without comment. I reminded him that my responsibility was to teach the Faith to my God-daughter in the event that her parents were not able to do so. I consider this scenario to be one of the worse ones under which I must fulfill my obligation.

I requested that my friend give his reasons for leaving Holy Mother Church, and I made an initial reply to his letter. I consider this the beginning of what may be a long dialogue.

I request your advice, but more importantly I ask – beg – for your prayers as I take on this task.

Thank you for your advice and prayers in advance. I may print some of my letters on my blog after removing any identifying marks.

Stephen M. Donahue

Joe

November 23rd, 2009 at 9:01 pm · Reply

I think this is tough. I am the God-father of 3 different children, one of which is not Catholic.

I think that you must fight for the soul of this Child, but ultimately this may be more about the parents than the Child. I think that during its “childhood” years unless the parents allow you to, you won’t be able to oversee any “instruction”.

I think that dialogue, prayer (St. Monica comes to mind), and patience is important in this situation. I think conversion, reversion, etc… is a PROCESS and not acts stand-alone.

Rob Kaiser

November 23rd, 2009 at 10:51 pm · Reply

My prayers are with you. It sounds like you are doing the right thing. This is what they asked you to do when asking you to be a godparent.

Mike in CT

November 24th, 2009 at 7:13 pm · Reply

I think Joe is on to something. While you are the Godfather, if the parents are deciding this, they may (from their perspective, not God’s) “rescind” their request for you to guide them in the Catholic faith. Bear that with love and prayer.

But I encourage you in your discussions with your friend. Considering what’s going on with the Anglican church these days, I suspect your friend’s decision to jump ship is more emotional than anything theological. And things emotional can spur more emotion, so be at peace to do God’s will with patience.

John Jansen

November 25th, 2009 at 10:29 am · Reply

Echoing Joe’s comment about St. Monica — our parish has a chapter of the St. Monica Sodality, which prays for family members and friends who have left the Church. I’d recommend you have the names of your goddaughter and her parents included among those the Sodality prays for.