- Pray for them regularly.
- Exchange telephone numbers and email addresses with them.
- To help them feel at home in the OCIA setting, try to arrive for the OCIA sessions and rites before them.
- Ask them to notify you or a team member in the event that he or she will miss a session.
- If they miss an OCIA session, call afterwards to show concern.
- Extend an invitation to attend Mass or other parish activities/ministries with you.
- Introduce them to other parishioners.
- Extend an invitation to attend a Catholic baptism, wedding, funeral, parish reconciliation service, or other liturgical event with you. Allow time to discuss the experience before or after.
- Offer to provide childcare sometime so that the person you are serving can have a special night out with his or her spouse.
- Share good Catholic resources (books, magazines, CDs, DVDs), or go to a Catholic bookstore together to browse.
- Suggest having a casual lunch or coffee or dessert together sometime.
- Send a Christmas card, or give a small gift.
- Prior to receiving baptism, the person you are serving will be asked to participate in the long-standing tradition of choosing a patron saint’s name from among the many saints of the Bible and the Church’s history. You can assist in this process in many ways, especially by praying for guidance, discussing your favorite saints, and helping them think about how to decide and to look for resources on saints.
- Give an appropriate gift at the time of their initiation (patron saint medal, book on the chosen patron saint, rosary, subscription to a good Catholic periodical).
- Remember the anniversary of their baptism or reception into the Church (card, note, phone call, etc.).
The above suggestions for godparents/sponsors can be found in Appendix II of the OCIA Leader’s Manual published by the Association for Catechumenal Ministry and distributed by Liturgy Training Publications.
