Use Your Work to Evangelize
July 01, 2013
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CareerThe other day I was in a one-on-one meeting with a local business owner. I met him through my wife. We had a great meeting, one of the most diverse of my career.
He did not grow up Catholic, and at one point, he considered being a missionary or pastor. He later decided to instead go into business. He named his company a markedly Catholic name.
I asked him a simple question that led to a profound revelation: Do you use the name of your company as a starting point for evangelization?
Today, many do not consider their work holy. We think that the only holy jobs are those in direct parish ministry. But we are all called to evangelize the world! The laity, working in concert with those in the clerical life, can reach the greatest number of people.
Your work is meant to be an opportunity to evangelize. I don’t mean that you should be quoting the Bible in every meeting or on Monday morning tell everyone that your weekend was “Eucharistic.” In fact, I don’t think you even need to initiate the conversation.
Your opportunities to evangelize often come to you. Other people will initiate the conversation. How many times have people complained to you about the Church, or asked you about the new Pope? How many times have you heard someone misquoting Church teaching or wonder aloud about a particular tradition? These are the moments for us to shine.
What do we do instead? We shy away. We change the subject. Wrong.
The great thing about these instances is that the ice has been broken. You don’t have to figure out a clever segue into the subject. They’ve teed up the ball and you just have to take a shot.
The next time you’re at work and your Catholic faith comes up, use it as an opportunity to inform or defend. You’ll be glad you did. Tags: Communication Prayer Reflections
