text: I've been asked to be.  I'm really not a 'parish' guy, though I have given a number of talks at parishes at the request of some priests/others.  My focus is personal, one on one with my friends and relatives.  Going out for a beer, talking about family life, talking about work. 
  
  The questions eventually come: Why do you love family life so much, why do you go to Confession often, why do you go to Mass, why do you love the Catholic Church, why do you call your wife your 'bride' still with a smile?
  
  And so quiet, slow, gentle substantial (and eventually supernatural) conversations about the faith and other matters begin like that. 
  
  Matters of the soul are very intimate, and so deep and trusting friendship like I've described is a pre-requisite to "RCIA".
  
  My role is outside.
  
  And maybe later - at the Holy Spirit's pace and will - my friends ask:  how do I become a Catholic.  And so maybe I become their sponsor...in other cases I point them to other people who might be better sponsors.