Being a Catholic professional in a secular workplace can be quite a tightrope walk. Striving to live out your faith and answer the call to evangelization while also maintaining respect for workplace boundaries and job security is no easy feat. Fortunately, there are ways to navigate this delicate balance and uphold your Catholic values in a professional setting without compromising your job or your beliefs.

What does it mean?

Ask fifty people about being a Catholic professional in a secular workplace, and you’ll receive fifty unique answers. There’s no one-size-fits-all approach to this dynamic situation. It hinges on the individual Catholic professional and the specific workplace they find themselves in. Context is key, making each experience a tailored journey. However, there are a few principles that we can follow that apply across the board.

Doing your job well 

Living out Catholic values in the workplace extends beyond mere religious affiliation. It involves excelling in your job, as it pertains to the dignity of both workers and work itself. Every occupation, regardless of its perceived significance, carries inherent dignity, enabling individuals to support themselves and their loved ones. Even if your work is not directly tied to the Church, its spiritual worth should not be underestimated. The value lies not in who you work for but in the commitment to excellence and the positive impact you make through your work.

Consider the example of a nurse working in a secular hospital. While their role may not be explicitly tied to Catholicism, their dedication to providing compassionate care to patients upholds the values of love, mercy, and dignity that are central to the Catholic faith. By embracing their work with diligence and genuine concern for others, they contribute to the spiritual well-being of both patients and their colleagues, making a profound difference in the lives they touch.

Exuding virtue 

Your work can be a powerful form of evangelization if done well and with joy. You don’t have to force exaggerated or fake cheerfulness – genuine joy rooted in faith is always appealing.

No need to be self-righteous or preachy; just focus on being holy. Your work life should reflect the joy of the Gospel without lacking authenticity. Show genuine care for your coworkers and those who interact with you, and naturally, people will be drawn to you, and thus appreciate what you believe.

As an exercise, choose one area for personal growth in the workplace. It could be cultivating patience or engaging with coworkers before your first cup of coffee. Even small steps can create opportunities to share the Gospel with your colleagues.

Evangelizing

You’ll likely have few options for direct evangelization in a secular workplace. That’s okay. Yes, it’s good to evangelize. It’s also good to keep your job. Contrary to what some may say, it is rarely the case that it is better to lose your job than not evangelize. If you have to feed your family, that comes first. Measure your word and action choices against your job security, but don’t let a good opportunity go to waste if you can avoid it.

That isn’t to say that you can’t evangelize at all. Of course, Christians are called to evangelize through their example. The very nature of who you are should be evangelistic. If you don’t feel like you can talk to your coworkers about religion, there are some other things you can do. You can wear a cross or have a crucifix at your desk (assuming your work allows that). Praying before meals is also a great conversation starter.

Get to know your coworkers if you aren’t sure where to start and how direct you can be. Yes, even Sharon from accounts payable, whom you can’t stand. Maybe start with Sharon. The more you authentically engage with your coworkers and get to know them, the better you can genuinely care for them. The inherent flaw with street evangelization is that the evangelist doesn’t have a relationship with the person he is evangelizing. That’s not to say that the “cold calling” of evangelization can’t work, but it likely isn’t the best option in your secular workplace. Know your coworkers, their values, and how you can approach them about matters that … actually matter.

Pray, read Scripture, and ask the intercession of the saints. Whatever works well in your prayer life, stick with that. You may need all the help you can get to not only spread the Faith but to keep your own in a secular workplace. You don’t need to proselytize, but you do need to live out your Catholic values.

What not to do

We often talk about how to evangelize, but we don’t often talk about how not to evangelize. This comes back to knowing your coworkers. If Sharon from accounting loves art, lecturing her on how the Council of Trent replied to the Protestant Reformation is NOT the way to go, lol. Perhaps the Church’s rich tradition as keepers and stewards of great art is a better starting point.

As a rule, you probably don’t want to make any grand evangelistic gestures. Maybe don’t pray the Our Father in Latin on your weekly conference call (unless you’ve already given your two weeks’ notice, then go wild). Of course, this is a hyperbolic example. The point is, large, impersonal gestures are often more to make the evangelist feel important than to evangelize. Even if not the case, they rarely translate in an office setting.

Community 

Find others who are in a similar situation. Maybe you have other Catholic coworkers. Talking about the faith with them may intrigue other coworkers. At a minimum, they may have questions you can answer.

If you don’t have Catholic coworkers, you probably know other Catholic professionals who work in secular workplaces. Joining a Catholic professional group or social club is a great way to meet other Catholics in similar situations to your own. Pray with each other for the strength to live out your Catholic values in your respective workplaces, and know you always have a community from which to draw strength.

About the Author:

Joe Coleman is a freelance writer, editor, and audio production consultant. He holds a BA in Philosophy from Loyola Marymount University (and actually uses it from time to time). A former fellow at KNOM Catholic Radio in Western Alaska, he got his start as an on-air host, producer, and news writer. Currently, you can find him in Southern California writing about national parks, outdoor gear, and the role of Catholics in the business world.

The post Living as a Catholic Professional in the Secular Workplace appeared first on Catholic Professionals.

My full time job is in marketing for higher education. I happen to work at a Catholic institution, but my work has almost nothing to do with the school’s Catholic roots. Thus, my job description has nothing to do with the faith.

However, my job description as a Catholic does. 

Maybe you’re in the same position as I am: you’re a strong Catholic, and you know that evangelizing doesn’t end in church. But you can’t really afford to lose your job over it. How do you reconcile working for a secular organization when your true life’s mission is to share about Jesus?

Don’t be afraid to share your faith to evangelize in the workplace, but don’t overdo it.

It’s the long-standing joke in my office that I am the “religious one.” If anyone has questions about saints, how to spell things related to Mass, or religion in general, they come to me. And we laugh and pretend like we don’t know why they’re coming to me about it.

They know I’m the “religious one” because I’ve been open about leaving on my lunch hour to go to Mass for Holy Days of Obligation. I would talk openly about getting my master’s in Theology or how the college class I teach in Theology is going. And my religious studies minor on my resume also helped give it away. 

However, I don’t go around wearing a giant sign that says “I’m a Christian!” in big bold letters or try to steer every conversation to God. I simply live my life, and if they ask about my faith or it comes up naturally, I take that as an invitation to give a simple witness that’s focused on me, not them.

Sharing your faith doesn’t always mean talking about it. It sometimes means just not hiding it.

Don’t be Judgy. 

It was a few weeks after my wedding. It came up that my co-workers thought I’d moved in with my husband before our wedding. (I hadn’t.) I had been talking about “moving weekend” a few months previous. So I stopped and explained simply that my stuff had moved, but I had not until after our wedding.

They seemed relieved. One said he had been surprised that I’d move in before the wedding. However, they figured if I was doing it, it must be okay. (Remember, I’m the “religious one.”) “Well, we’re both going to hell,” he remarked to my other co-worker, because they both lived with their spouses before they got married.

I stopped at that. What should I say to that? Should I condemn them for their actions or just go along with it?

In that moment, I decided to ignore it. I knew that if I went down the road of condemnation, I’d lose every opportunity I had left to talk about faith. So, I decided to simply laugh it off. That way, they’d feel they could continue to talk to me about faith without judgment. I could choose to ignore their weaknesses because they weren’t mine to judge. It wasn’t the right moment for that type of witness.

I’ve had many scenarios where co-workers bring up something I don’t agree with. It’s easy to rush to judgment, and it sometimes feels like the right call. After all, shouldn’t we defend the Catholic position no matter what? When we’re trying to evangelize in the workplace, it can feel like we always have to be on the defensive.

But then I think of the story with Jesus and the woman caught in adultery and realize that it is not my place to throw stones. I can only witness to my life.

When caught in a situation like this in your secular workplace, discern the line between judgment and loving witness. Take a temperature of the situation. Chances are, if your co-workers are not already Catholic, your condemnation of their actions probably won’t convince them otherwise – and could just get you in trouble with HR.

You might have to get personal to evangelize in the workplace. 

At a bachelorette gathering recently, one of the bridesmaids asked me if I used Natural Family Planning. She knew I am a devout Catholic from other conversation and wanted to know more. I was taken aback at the question, given the setting and the fact that I barely know her. However, I realized it was an opportunity for evangelization, so I talked about it and why we choose to use it. 

Another time, one of my co-workers came into my office and asked whether or not you had to be sorry for a sin in order to confess it. We had a great conversation about confession and why Catholics believe in it.

In both of those instances, I could have shied away from the conversation because it was too personal or too religious. However, I believe if you’re in a secular situation and someone asks you about your faith, they lose their right to be offended by what you say. So don’t be afraid to get a little personal!

Just live your life.

What do you say when someone asks about your weekend plans? Do you mention Mass, or do you gloss over it? Don’t be afraid to talk about going to Mass when people ask about your weekend plans. We get so afraid of offending people we simply don’t bring it up, hiding this part of ourselves from the rest of the world.

Dr. Scott Hahn, in his talks on evangelization, likens this to talking about the ball game over the water cooler. You’re just talking about your life!

So wear your religious jewelry proudly. Make the Sign of the Cross before meals. Sometimes, the best way to evangelize in the workplace is simply to live your life.

Extend an invitation.

82% of people who no longer attend church say they would consider going if someone simply invited them. 

One of the best chances you have of reaching the unchurched is outside of church, and one of the main places you see people (most likely) is at your secular job.

If you are particularly close to a co-worker, consider offering him or her an invitation to meet you for Mass one Sunday. Make sure you are pleasant and not commanding in your offer. If the answer is no, accept it and don’t bring it up again. 

But if you succeed, you could be bringing someone back to God, and there is no greater job responsibility than that.

Think about this: Perhaps the very reason you have this job is to extend that invitation to your co-worker.

The worst thing that can happen is they say no.

———————–

Being Catholic in the workplace is really no different than being Catholic in the rest of the secular world. Yes, there is the added concern of your job safety, but as long as you are kind, loving, and open, you shouldn’t have any problems.

And those tips go for evangelizing everywhere too!

Editor at CatholicProfesssionals.net

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