An Unexpected Conversation

Last Thursday at work, I was sitting in the breakroom at work for lunch and there was only one other person in there.  There are over 100 employees who work for the company and there are a few different locations, so there are many people that I don’t know.  The coworker in the breakroom was one of these people- he was someone who normally works at a different office, in a different department but I had maybe seen him a handful of times at our quarterly all-staff meetings.  A few minutes after I had sat down and started eating, he asked, “Are you Catholic?”  The question caught me off guard at first but then I remembered I was wearing the crucifix necklace that I wear every day.  We proceeded to talk about our faith for the next 20 minutes.  This conversation was a consolation from God and a reminder that faith is not to be kept in a box separate from the rest of our lives, but something that needs to be ingrained into who we are, no matter where we are.

As adults, we spend a large portion of the week at work.  The people we work with are people who we spend a lot of time with.  While I work with great people, it can sometimes feel kind of lonely when you have beliefs that are opposite of most of them.  And it can be easy to let this take a toll on your faith when you work next to and with these people day in and day out.

This conversation in the breakroom at work, while a small moment in my day, was easily the highlight.  My coworker told me that he had gone through RCIA in 2017 and we talked about everything from Catholic prayer apps, faith formation, to the Bible and Catechism in a Year podcasts.  The breakroom at work seemed like the most unlikely place to have this conversation and I almost forgot I was at work during that time.  It was the spiritual boost I needed and it was God who provided it in the most unexpected and unlikely place.
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We may sometimes feel lonely, but we are never alone.  Whether in the workplace, at school, or in any other setting, we need to persevere and keep the faith.  And God may place people in front of us at just the right moments.  We need to be open to these moments and these encounters, ready and willing to share our faith.  As you go through this week, be open and ready- you may just have a conversation you weren’t expecting.