I'm a godparent...again!

"What does it mean to be a Catholic godparent?" My friend who is also my wife's cousin, Jack, aka Paul Cortes, the Deputy Consul at the Philippine Embassy here in Honolulu, asked me if I could share my thoughts in a "testimony" during lunch after his son's baptism this coming Saturday where I will be one of the (more than two-dozen) godparents. When he emailed me with his request two days ago, I asked my wife, "Why me? Anyone among the lot of godparents is more articulate than I am. Maybe Paul knows my history of being a dead-beat godfather and he wants me to brush up on my role as a godfather so I won't screw up with his son.." My wife said, "Whatever. But don't even think about turning down my cousin's request, no?" So I responded to the email right away with "Of course, Jack."

I'm a godfather to three kids, now four, with Paul's son, Liam Kaleo.  One of them just recently enlisted in the US Air Force partly due to my advice, being a former Air Force man myself.  I confess, I have not been the ideal godfather to these kids. Yes, I gave them Christmas and birthday money invariably over the years; but, for the most part, I wasn't really there for them. Maybe because my family and I moved a lot while we were in the Air Force making it difficult to keep in touch. But that's not really an excuse. As somebody pointed out last Monday night during the baptism class, with today's advances in information technology - Skype, Facetime, Facebook, email, chat, twitter, Instagram, text messaging, etc. -  it's so easy to communicate with someone no matter where they are in the world.

But I think the real reason we lose track of the people that matter to us, including our godchildren, is our inability to prioritize. We all get caught up with other stuff. The religious adviser during last Monday's baptism class called them “false gods-” our work, our hobbies, our vices, our toys, our social groups, especially those in the social networks like Facebook. My hobby, which is borderline a vice, is golf.  When I'm in the golf course, I'm in my own world, oblivious to everything and everyone. My wife sarcastically calls herself a golf widow whenever I'm away on a golf tournament.

Overcoming these personal distractions or "false gods" is hard enough. Then there's the part of being Catholic. Not only being Catholic but being a Filipino Catholic. We are very traditional. This reminds me of a story told by my Pinoy parish priest at St. John's: A Filipino man went to his priest to ask him to baptize his newborn baby. The priest said, "Paalala lang hijo, malaking bagay ang binyag. Pinaghahandaan ito." (Just a reminder, my son, baptism is a big deal. You have to be well prepared.) He is alluding of course to the religious indoctrinations before baptism. To which the man replied, "Alam ko po, padre. Marami po akong handa - may pansit, dinuguan, kaldereta, at may lechon pa." (I know, father. I prepared a lot - pansit, dinuguan, caldereta, and even lechon.) The priest said, "Naku, hindi lang yan, yung spiritual din."  (That's not all I meant, the spiritual aspect also.)  "Ready din ako, diyan, Father. Mayron akong Johnny Walker, Chivas, beer, at Fundador."  (I'm also ready, Father. I have Johnny Walker, Chivas, beer, and Fundador.)

We Catholics have so many traditions and rules that challenge, confuse, and amuse us. Some even leave the Church in frustration; oftentimes because they do not understand these rules and traditions. Can the Church do a better job in educating the laity? Of course, but that's becoming more challenging nowadays given the dwindling number of the clergy. But I think what's more pragmatic is that we, the laity, we as godparents, learn more about our faith. My wife and I have had the wonderful opportunities to participate and lead in weekend retreats and go on a pilgrimage to Rome where we were humbled, enlightened, and blessed by these experiences.  Learning more about our faith is one thing; walking in faith is another. Practice what we preach because in the long run, it is not what we say that matter but how we actually live our lives that will have a meaningful impact on other people.

So, what does it mean to be a Catholic godparent? With Liam, I think, he's going to be a low-maintenance godson. I know that Paul and Yasmin have the experience, the talent, and resources to bring him up well as a god-fearing child. One only has to look at their two older boys - Justin and Andre, two fine young men, to know that they are good at this child-rearing stuff. They probably will not be needing much help in guiding and educating their third boy about the Catholic faith. But just in case, I want them to know, wherever they may be on the planet, I'm only a phone call or an email away (sorry, no Facebook account:) and that I'm able and willing to step in if they want me to. In the mean time, being a ninong will be business as usual, engage in traditions that are deeply rooted in our culture and religion. So, pareng Paul, Mareng Yasmin, I'm warning you now, there will be times when I will make you look bad when I will be spoiling your child with cash after he makes mano to Ninong Rick.