Little Ways to Live out the Faith in a Secular Workplace
“This split between the faith which many profess and their daily lives deserves to be counted among the more serious errors of our age” (Pope St. Paul VI).
A dozen years ago, I started graduate school and became a student campus minister for that academic year. Each incoming campus minister received a dark-coloured hoodie with the following words boldly printed in white across the back: “Faith is meant to be lived.”
Indeed, we are not meant to reserve our faith to Sundays, when we are among like-minded individuals. We are meant to live our faith in all areas of life, including at work.
Easy enough to say!
Until graduating from graduate school, I had always found myself in a faith-based setting. Starting in kindergarten through to grade 12, I went to publicly funded Catholic school offered in the Canadian province where I grew up. Then, for my undergraduate education, I attended a federated college shaped by the Basilian Fathers and other communities at a large (secular) university. Finally, in graduate school, I had an active role in campus and then off-campus ministry.
When I joined the workforce full time, I was no longer immersed in a faith-based environment. Initially, I was terrified to give any hints that I was Catholic in my secular workplace as I tried to navigate this new environment. In the scientific community, where I work, there’s an assumption that science and religion are incompatible (which is not at all true). As an introvert (who enjoys spending time with other people but requires regular intervals of alone time to recharge), strong outward acts of evangelization are not one of my gifts.
Learning through example and experimentation, I realized that I can also acknowledge my faith at work in small ways. One approach is not better than the other. Here, I highlight three examples of little ways to live out the faith in a secular workplace.
Prayer
Tell your fellow workers that you are praying for them. If you know that one of your team members is going through a challenging time, don’t be afraid to tell them that you are keeping them in your prayers. Your thoughts and prayers will surely be appreciated by a struggling co-worker.
Subtle Displays
Wear or subtly display an icon of the faith (as appropriate), such as a crucifix or a rosary bracelet. A family friend recently gifted me with a magnetic bookmark in the shape of a cross. I found the perfect place for it—keeping track of where I am in my weekly agenda, which I bring with me to all of my meetings.
In Conversation
Disclose your faith activities during non-work-related conversations. For example, if a co-worker asks what you did last weekend or what your plans are for the coming weekend, use your response as an opportunity to share that you went to Mass or attended a prayer group.
I do not follow these tips all the time, and that is OK; with practice, it has become easier. Evangelizing doesn’t necessarily have to involve large leaps. It can also be lived out in small and subtle ways.
Sarah Gagliano Taliun is a genetics professor with many interests in addition to studying DNA. She and her husband now call Montreal home. When she is not reading a scientific article or meeting with students, Sarah can be found experimenting with new recipes in the kitchen, reading her Bible or taking a walk in nature.