If you attended Mass today, you probably received a healthy dousing of Holy Water, marking the Feast of the Baptism of the Lord with a remembrance of our own baptisms into the body of Christ.
It was at your baptism that you received three essential gifts that can assist you in Catholic marketing: being anointed as priest, prophet, and king.
Tradition tells us that these three roles help us to live as Christ did: participating in common priesthood, aka sacrifice and worship (not the same as ministerial priesthood, those who receive Holy Orders); offering the opportunity to share the truth of God’s love and word with all those we encounter (prophecy); and exercising any authority or leadership that we have in the model of Christ’s servant-leadership (king).
But how do these anointed roles assist us in what we do as Catholics marketing our churches, businesses, or ministries?
In our priestly sense, the call to sacrifice also involves offering our gifts to the Lord, giving back to Him what He has given to us for His service. I often hear in my work, “I hate marketing!” And I totally get it (okay, I mean I don’t because I love marketing, but I understand what people mean by that). But God has ordained you to the work to which you’ve been called to serve Him, most likely by serving others through your gifts. And the only way you can do that is by letting others know about what you do – even if it’s a sacrifice to do so. (And we all know that it’s a sacrifice of our dignity to post that reel sometimes!)
The prophetic role can take many forms within your work – maybe you sell a product that enhances people’s experience of the Word of God or perhaps you offer Bible studies as part of your ministry. It could even take the form of evangelizing when that post you made goes viral and people start offering criticism of the faith – even trolls have souls! This presents a wonderful opportunity to live out your prophetic marketing by responding with the simple message of God’s love that they may never have encountered before.
Finally, as kings, we can live out our call to leadership within our ministries by marketing humbly. We have a whole Instagram series on how to market without letting our egos get in the way, but the bottom line is reminding ourselves of the purpose of our work – to give God glory and bring others closer to Him, not us. So whether that’s fostering an active prayer life that coincides with the work you do, offering some of your marketing time to raising awareness of the faith alongside your products or services, or using whatever platform you have to foster good for those in need, we want to model Jesus in our marketing by metaphorically washing the feet of the people we serve. To God be the glory, not us.
From your baptism, you’ve been set apart and equipped to be a Catholic marketer. Now go out there and spread the Gospel in the unique way you’ve been called!
Comments