Dear ExpressingFaith,
Thanks for the good question.
I admire those who raised you not to be ashamed of your faith. No Catholic should, as it is truly and historically Jesus' one Church that He founded on St. Peter and his successors. The Early Church Fathers had your exact sediments and in many cases died for the Catholic faith rather than deny it. If you're new to who the Early Church Fathers are, check out my web siteBibleBeltCatholics.com.
While I would encourage you to wear something like a small crucifix or cross as is proper to Catholic piety, there is no sin in not wearing one.
The T.V., News media, and its culture are encouraging a false, phony notion (theirs) that wearing a cross or crucifix:
- brings an unwelcoming, threatening culture to the work place, or
- that it is imposing beliefs on others.
Apparently, these people have never read the Constitution or Declaration of Independent [and/or] understand it correctly. My personal opinion is this is due to two things:
- the after effects of 911 and the integration of Muslims in the United States who do not generally:
- respect a person's free will, and
- have no toleration for anything other than what they believe, and
- a lack of standing up for Christianity and Catholicism in America by Christians .... partially due to Catholics not being catechized and evangelized in RCIA.
These two reasons have given rise to:
- atheists
- secularists
- hedonists
- and others
You said:
This would include not being shy in wearing a visible crucifix necklace. However, I am concerned as to whether or not my religious expression could have limits in the workplace.
I don't believe anyone one the team has any legal background, so I can't speak to your legal rights in the work place. Because our priest-helper Fr. Jonathan is associated with organizations that have lawyers, he may be able to either:
- ask a lawyer friend the rights of Catholics in the work place, or
- he may know them himself.
Whether you wear a cross, crucifix, or nothing at all, remember to always make your morning offering as the very work we do is carrying out the work of Christ in the world and is, itself, a prayer.
Morning Prayer/Offering
I hope this helps,
Mike
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