In what ways do our coworkers know that we are Catholic/Christian?

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rayne89

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Someone suggested this on another thread and I thought it was a great topic to address.

For myself my Co-workers all know I am strong a Catholic mostly because my manager (who I’ve know for 10 years and consider a friend) is a Fundementalist Baptist and we’ve had our share of lively discussions. He originally started discussing it with me because he saw me reading my Bible at work and wanted to see what translation I was reading. He was surprised to see a Catholic reading the Bible.

I talk about my feelings on abortion, same sex unions and whatever else is morally important when I hear certain comments from co-workers that I feel need to be addressed. I try to be as positive and charitable as possible. I also made it clear that I would work Sat or Sun but not both because I wanted one day to go to Mass. (I work in retail)

And my co-workers know my car by all the pro-life bumper stickers I have slapped on it.😃
 
In each place I have worked my coworkers soon would know that I was Catholic. Because of promotions, I would get transferred to other departments. Sometimes I could tell by comments or by the “catholic” subjects I was being approached with that my reputation as being a Catholic had preceded me.

A woman Catholic lawyer wanted to have an in-depth conversation with me regarding contraception. As a prevention to conceive, I view contraception as an unnatural act. Also, I also view it as a violence you subject the body to by changing the natural course of things in your body. We never had the in-depth conversation. I never asked but I think that as lawyer she did some research as to what the Catholic point of view is on this subject and was probably convinced of what she found out made sense.

One of my bosses, Italian and Catholic, loved to make fun that I was so blatant Catholic. He was mischievous and loved to stirr the pot. Again, I was transferred to another office because of a promotion, and this time I had to share the office with a woman who was the wife of a Baptist minister. Well, leave it up to my Italian Catholic boss. He made sure to tell this woman that she was going to room with a staunch Catholic :bigyikes:. When I arrived to settle into the office, my roommate co-worker threw her hands in the air and loudly proclaimed in a very dramatic way, “Let the blood of Jesus come down upon me.” She might have said some other things. She repeated her prayer several times like it was an exorcism prayer. I thought it was hilarious. However, I was too preoccupied with my many new duties, I just introduced myself to her and then ignored her antics.

Theodora
 
Most know I am a Catholic. I had a semi"famous" conversion into the Church. There was a few articles in the local papers about it, my manager put the article up in her cube so most everyone sees it.
I am also the team leader of my shifts Christian bible group that my company sponsers. So when we have diversity faires and such I am the one sitting in the chair handing out pamphlets. And yes I have a Gay group on oneside and a Muslim group on the another. My company thrives on diversity.
As for conflict, the only time anything gets heated is when someone tries to say something false about the Church, such as “all priests are child molesters”, etc etc.
 
in my case, it’s not coworkers, but students. i live an hostel on a campus that’s totally protestant. people usualy figure out i’m catholic by the rosary round my neck and usually, they confirm and smile politely. sometimes, it leads to discussions.

newcomers make out sometimes when i’m carrying the bible and they see it’s a catholic bible

sometimes, they make out by my viewpoint on issues, especially those that are so often discussed in a medical college.
recently, we got an opportunity to perform tubectomies in a peripheral mission hospital and i quietly, opted out but it still resulted in discussion with a person over the topic.

my non-christian friends of course were very eager to know my views on “the da vinci code” which is the rage here right now

i think it’s important to know our own faith and only then can we live it faithfully, as a “city on a hill” or a “lamp on a table”
 
I would hope that they know I’m Christian by my words and deeds. They know I’m Catholic through the discussions on subjects that they are confussed about on the Catholic faith. Also they know I’m Catholic because they know I go to Holy Hour after work on a certain night of the week.
 
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rayne89:
…He originally started discussing it with me because he saw me reading my Bible at work and wanted to see what translation I was reading. He was surprised to see a Catholic reading the Bible.
Click to expand...
:eek: Don’t say this too loud! You could get excomunicated for reading a Bible!
…And my co-workers know my car by all the pro-life bumper stickers I have slapped on it.😃
Click to expand...
I hang a rosary from my rear view mirror and wear a crucifix. A silver corpus on a gold cross. It stands out and cannot be missed. I also am a federal employee and work were they are taking God out of our workplace.😦
 
My co-workers and my students know I am Catholic because I
  • wear a Miraculous Medal lapel pin
  • have stickers of the Virgen Mary and of the Divine Mercy on my car windows
  • have Rosaries in my office (that I hand out to anyone who asks for one).
  • have a statue of St. Jude on top of my computer
  • have a Rosary hanging from my rear view mirror
  • openly profess my faith
Funny thing is the two people I am closest to in my department are a Presbyterian elder thd the wife of the pastor of a non-denominational church.

John
 
i’d like to point out that the pope has recently issued a statement that he would like all of us catholics to make our faith more visible - wearing symbols and posting them to let others know about our faith.

i also would like to say that it’s hard for anyone who knows me NOT to know i’m catholic - not because of what i wear (i have alot of left over t-shirts from when i was baptist) 🙂 but because of my daily schedule. when anyone asks what i’m doing later, i always truthfully tell them that i’ll be in mass at 5:30. i’ve had many protestant friends find it amazing that i go to church every day. and i’ve had many of them come with me, just to get a little ‘boost’ during the week, or to see what it’s all about.

i don’t say any of this, i hope you know, in a bragging way. i’m a silly, sinful, selfish little man. but i (and we) have been given a great gift in the mass, and it’s one that communicates very effectively who we are and what we believe.

God bless.
 
The Holy Spirit has a way of revealing the True Faith through us, and as it happens, it’s inevitable that conversations with co-workers provide an opportunity to witness to the Faith. I find myself invariably saying, “As a Catholic, I…,” or My being Catholic allows me to …" My co-workers know that I go to daily Mass, that I’m active in my parish, that I love the Blessed Mother, that I make the Sign of the Cross and pray before I eat my lunch, etc. Moreover, when my co-workers ask me to pray for them, I always tell them that I’ll be glad to, and that I’ll ask the Blessed Mother and the Saints to join in too. If someone does not know that I’m Catholic within, say, a half an hour after meeting me, than I’m falling down on my job, so to speak. There are too many opportunities to witness to the faith to have others ignorant as to my origins of my convictions. As an afterthought, I must say that there are Catholic co-workers who are either reticent or indifferent about sharing their faith, so I tend to serve as a burr in their side to get them on the fence and into the fray. (You know what Jesus says about the lukewarm). Interestingly enough, some of my closest friends on the job are Evangelical Protestants. They are quite interested in the Faith and recognize what’s at stake for Christians and Christianity if it allows itself to get bullied into secularism.
 
before I ever talked about being catholic to anyone, my last name gave it away. Pawloski not many with polish sir names are protestant.
 
iam a nurse so in the hospital they know ia catholic because of my brown scapular. usually we don’t talk about religion topics because of the diversity. an because in the n.i.c.u. you see families from different denominations an you have to show respect. bless you all:)
 
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