Chicagoland

‘Where Profession Meets Faith’ series highlights everyday presence of Holy Spirit

By Daniel P. Smith | Contributor
Sunday, May 9, 2010

It sounds like the lead up to a tacky joke: What do an industrial engineer, a pet caretaker, a singer and an Internet marketer have in common? The question, however, delivers not a punch line, but a reflective seminar series on faith’s place in the professional world at St. Paul of the Cross in Park Ridge.

The monthly series, titled “Where Profession Meets Faith,” is the brainchild of St. Paul of the Cross parishioner Jeff Liautaud and examines the unique intersection of one’s spiritual life and professional life, two entities that infrequently co-exist in conversation.

“There are a lot of good people trying to lead faithful lives, and that faith tends to grow incrementally over time just as professional experience does. As Catholics though, we never really talk about this,” Liautaud said. “I had a hunch that work would be a key component that impacts faith.”

Turns out that Liautaud’s intuition was right; both presenters and audience members have offered high praise for the parish’s inaugural run with the series.

There is a long history of church teaching about the role of faith, work and the human person. Many of the popes’ social encyclicals, such as Rerum Novarum and the recent Caritas in Veritate, have much to say on the topic.

The U.S. Catholic Catechism for Adults tells us that “The economy must serve people, not the other way around. Work is more than a way to make a living; it is a form of continuing participation in God’s creation.”

Liautaud is following in this tradition in the Catholic Church.

“I aim to overdeliver and underpromise,” Liautaud said. “I can’t promise people will come and leave inspired and positive, but I do believe that’s the likely result.”

The details

After passing the idea through the St. Paul of the Cross Men’s Club and pastor Father Britto Berchmans, Liautaud, a financial planner, held the first “Where Profession Meets Faith” program last November. On the third Wednesday of each month, three speakers share stories from their own professional lives and detail faith’s part in that space. To date, the seminar series has hosted 18 speakers, all of whom have a connection to the Park Ridge parish.

On April 21, the most recent event in the series, nearly 50 guests gathered in the parish’s Holy Family Chapel to hear how faith and work mingle in the lives of a senior housing representative, a health care software worker and an accounting clerk.

“What we find over and over is that the Holy Spirit uses a person to accomplish the greater good,” said Liautaud. “That’s the great piece of this series — to learn how average people are using their gifts to bring about a greater sense of community.”

Seven days a week

Beshar Bahjat, who helps Liautaud secure speakers, believes the seminar series brings encouragement to attendees and reminds everyone in the room of the importance of living a faithful life.

“We cannot separate Sunday from the rest of the week,” Bahjat said. “Faith needs to be a sevenday a week piece of our lives.”

John Nesbitt, another St. Paul of the Cross parishioner, has attended each of the series’ six sessions. In others’ stories, he finds shared experiences that bring clarity and insight to his own life.

“I find a spiritual recognition that the Holy Spirit works in all of us,” Nesbitt said. “It’s so common for all us to make short momentary prayers and I enjoy hearing of instances I can relate to and how other people lead honest, spiritual lives.”

Faith can deliver

A former presenter himself, PJ Naughton calls the series “refreshing.” An Internet marketer, Naughton spoke of helpfulness and honesty during his presentation, drawing a link between technology’s transparency and faith’s ability to deliver added value into one’s life.

“A lot of us work in the agnostic world and don’t have an opportunity for these discussions in the workplace,” Naughton said following the April 21 session. “For me, and I think many of us here, this series reinforces the spirit in us.”

On May 19 at 7 p.m., the seminar series will feature presentations from a quality control director, an attorney and a teacher. The series will then take a three-month hiatus for summer before returning in September.

Liautaud hopes other parishes see value in such a discussion and bring the series to their communities.

“The more we know about each other, the more we’re going to increase our sense of community and there’s a real richness in that experience,” Liautaud said.

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