Today, our guest blogger is Caroline Meditz, who has served on UniteBoston’s team to compile the UB Newsletter from 2017-2019 and is now the Director of Outreach of the new Boston Chapter of the Young Catholic Professionals! Read below to hear her describe the rich traditions from which this network draws inspiration and how you can get involved!
Boston is home to a vibrant church community, stemming from a large Catholic population both historically and at present. Local parishes and faith-based organizations offer countless opportunities for Catholics to serve others and grow in one’s spiritual life.
We are excited to share more about the new Boston chapter of Young Catholic Professionals, which offers members the unique opportunity to integrate their faith and career. In 2010, YCP founder Jennifer Baugh discerned that the Lord was calling her to act on her desire to bring about a balance of work and faith, and to foster deeper friendships in a world often characterized by surface-level interactions.
YCP now has over 20 chapters throughout the U.S., with Boston being the first chapter in New England. As of 2019, over 300 young adults now commit more than 20,000 hours annually through volunteer service with YCP, and more than 26 bishops have invited YCP into their diocese. The Boston chapter will offer monthly opportunities, including a speaker series centered around a single virtue (faith, hope, justice, prudence and more) hosted by Catholics who are leaders in their field, networking happy hours to help young people build community, and a mentorship program that matches experienced Catholic professionals with young adults seeking career and personal development.
We draw our inspiration from St. Joseph, a simple carpenter who reminds us of the importance of stillness, reflection, and prayer. We often ask for his intercession using the prayer below:
Joseph, by the work of your hands and the sweat of your brow, you supported Jesus and Mary, and had the Son of God as your fellow worker.
Teach me to work as you did, with patience and perseverance, for God and for those whom God has given me to support. Teach me to see in my fellow workers the Christ who desires to be in them, that I may always be charitable and forbearing towards all.
Grant me to look upon work with the eyes of faith, so that I shall recognize in it my share in God’s own creative activity and in Christ’s work of our redemption, and so take pride in it.
When it is pleasant and productive, remind me to give thanks to God for it. And when it is burdensome, teach me to offer it to God, in reparation for my sins and the sins of the world.
As a recent convert to the Catholic Church, I was looking for a way I could use my gifts for the community and meet other young people who shared my faith. My full-time job is external relations for a college career center, so I envisioned serving in a similar capacity. I actually reached out to the national YCP organization, and they told me a Boston chapter was just about to be established! I knew at that moment God was calling me to get involved, and that I would be a part of something special. As Director of Outreach, I foster connections between companies, nonprofit organizations, and individuals who want to invest in YCP and believe in our mission. I am most excited to help empower young people to live their faith and principles in the workplace and integrate their faith and their career. Having formerly served with Unite Boston, I know the power of people of faith coming together, and I am excited for YCP to join the already flourishing network of Christian ministries and organizations for young people here!
We are excited to serve in the City of Boston, and we hope that you join us for the chapter launch party being hosted on September 18th at Hurricane’s at the Garden. Come meet the YCP Boston leadership team and many other young professionals from the Boston community! Whether you attend mass regularly or haven’t gone in a while, we welcome people at all stages of their journey as Catholics.
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