Faithful Careers

In Faithful Careers Peter M. Smudde contends that God calls us to live an "integrated life" that unifies both the spiritual and the secular aspects of life.

As an introduction to integrating the Catholic faith with one’s work, this book answers, in the Catholic context, basic questions of what work is, why work is important, who we are as workers, how may we have fruitful careers, where may we find help about faith-work integration, and when we should take next steps toward better integrating our work and the Catholic faith. Smudde demonstrates how the Catholic faith truly does apply to our labor, and that our lives depend on that labor, by putting forth particular matters of the faith that pertain to faithful careers. He then puts into real-world context, pertinent teachings, concepts, principles, practices, and other means the Catholic Church provides for us, so that those lessons can be practically applied on a daily basis. Sources such as the Bible and writings of the saints, popes, contemporary Catholic spiritual writers, apologists, and scholars are applied to strengthen the support made about the book’s content.

Catholic professionals at all stages of their careers will welcome this insightful book, which explores the call to put spirituality in the foreground―to obtain ever-deeper faith and, thereby, greater integration of faith in everyday life and career.

Peter M. Smudde is Professor and Associate Director of the School of Communication at Illinois State University in Normal, Illinois. He has worked for 34 years in industry and in academia (basically half the time in one and half in the other) as a professional communicator. He has been a full-time professor in higher education since 2002 and has had numerous publications, including six other books. He has a doctorate in communication and rhetoric theory from Wayne State University in Detroit, is a member of the Knights of Columbus (fourth-degree), is a member of the Pope’s Worldwide Prayer Network, is a sacristan for his parish, is an Oblate in the Order of St. Benedict (Obl.OSB), and has been a leader for several years in his parish’s program for the Rite of Christian Initiation of Adults (RCIA).

Dr. Smudde is available to lead workshops or speak to groups about integrating the Catholic faith with their work. He can be reached at faithful.careers@gmail.com.