Navigating the Intersection of Faith and Career Advancement
Join Peter Buckley and Mark O'Donnell on another insightful episode of "On the Mark" as they delve into the theme of evangelization in the workplace, focusing on professionals in their forties and fifties. Drawing from personal experiences and reflections, Mark shares candid insights into the challenges faced by individuals as they navigate the intersection of faith and career advancement. From the waning zeal for evangelization to the pressures of professional success, Mark and Peter explore the contradictions and opportunities encountered on this journey.
Notes
- The focus of the episode is on evangelization in the workplace, particularly for professionals in their forties and fifties.
- reasons why evangelization might become challenging as professionals advance in their careers.
- Exploration of the contradiction between professional maturity and decreased zeal for evangelization.
- Mention of Romano Guardini's book "Faith and Modern Man" particularly the chapter on faith and doubt in different stages of life. " Mark reads Guardini quote - "things are as they are, and religion is powerless to change them. The world is stronger than grace, if indeed grace exists and is not merely a subjective experience. Calculation, power, cunning, accomplish more than devotion. God seems to have withdrawn, to have become unreal and powerless. Faith threatens to become meaningless or simply to drop away."
- Emphasis on the importance of prayer and asking for an increase in faith as a theological virtue.
- Importance of seeking advice and support from peers in similar circumstances, emphasizing the need for Catholic professional men to encourage each other.
- Build a life of prayer and deepen one's relationship with God as a foundation for evangelization.
- Temptations and distractions that can hinder spiritual growth and effective evangelization in the workplace.
- The need for professional temperance and prioritizing relationships over material success.
- Our culture's professional ranking systems adds pressure to prioritize production over human relationships.
- Pope Francis reminds us to be spirit-filled evangelizers and living out the Gospel through transformed lives.
- Pope Francis "Joy of the Gospel" Excerpt --- 259. Spirit-filled evangelizers means evangelizers fearlessly open to the working of the Holy Spirit. At Pentecost, the Spirit made the apostles go forth from themselves and turned them into heralds of God’s wondrous deeds, capable of speaking to each person in his or her own language. The Holy Spirit also grants the courage to proclaim the newness of the Gospel with boldness (parrhesía) in every time and place, even when it meets with opposition. Let us call upon him today, firmly rooted in prayer, for without prayer all our activity risks being fruitless and our message empty. Jesus wants evangelizers who proclaim the good news not only with words, but above all by a life transfigured by God’s presence.
- Excerpt from "The Faith and Modern Man" - “Things are as they are, and religion is powerless to change them. The world is stronger than grace - - if indeed, grace exists and is not merely a subjective experience. Calculation, power, cunning accomplish more than devotion. God seems to have withdrawn, to have become unreal and powerless. Faith threatens to become meaningless, or simply to drop away…” (p.105)
- Excerpt from "The Faith and Modern Man" - “the hallmark of the succeeding (mature) stage (of faith) will be daily and unremitting struggle with the toughness of existence, all the sharper now that the forces of life are waning. The inner springs no longer burst forth spontaneously. The capacity for renewal lessens. Events repeat themselves. Memory records one failure after another. More and more, determination and perseverance must take the place of self-confidence and creative power. This is the time when work and responsibility pile up, with a sense of continual strain…One’s resources diminish. Man perceives his limitations.” (p. 104)