I’m godfather to my nephew, who is 7 years old. Like many non-Catholics I don’t really know what I’m responsible for (I had a role in the christening, and my sister has made vague noises about my role in the boy’s education, but she doesn’t really think much about it, not being Catholic herself).
His first communion is coming up soon. I’ll be unable to attend (he’s on the east coast, I’m on the west) but would like to mark the occasion in an appropriate way. What’s a good gift, and/or what can a long-distance godfather do to meet the demands of his role?
As far as being a good godfather, probably just be a good uncle. Make yourself available to him especially as he gets older, in a way that he would feel comfortable coming to you with questions about growing up.
A nice rosary (they really aren’t that expensive) to commemorate the occasion. Many people don’t pray the rosary any more, which is sort of a shame. It’s a good meditation tool.
As well as the rosary, a gift card or a small amount of cash would be appropriate, and would let the kid pick out something he’d like.
IMHO, you don’t really need to worry much about the “godfather” thing. Sounds like the baptism was one of those religious performance art events one hears about so often. It’s “for the family.” You don’t even technically qualify to be a Catholic godparent as you are not Catholic and the purpose of one is to concern yourself with the ***Catholic religious ***education of the child. If you want to take the godparent role seriously, go here.
Since you cannot really participate, due to both distance and lack of knowledge, don’t worry about getting the child a religious gift for his First Communion. Just be his fun uncle and get him a football or a video game.
At my first communion (many, many years ago), cash was the predominent present. Not sure if it’s a regional thing or not. If you want to go with a religious gift, I’d go with a holy medal. My brother got one for his first communion and I was extremely jealous. But be sure to pick a cool patron saint.
You can get him anything you want to. I got my godchildren 1) a charm bracelet with a first communion charm (and also a monkey, kid’s got a thing about monkeys) and 2) a saint christopher sport medal. And money.
My elder child wanted a medal with St Michael the archangel on it, probably because of the flaming sword. St. George, slayer of dragons, is also popular with boys, but since my kid planned to tame one and ride it that seemed not quite the thing. If his name has a nifty patron siant associated with it a medal of his name saint is also a nice gift. Kids’ medals tend to be inexpensive, you can get pricey ones but most seven year olds won’t take care of them. But it does add a certain personal touch to a money goft.