Why It’s Hard To Be a Catholic Writer in a Secular World

When I was a lukewarm Catholic, I didn’t find it hard to be a writer. The words just flowed naturally, and readers came and visited my blog. I also had a network of writers who were from different beliefs.

I had this idea that I wanted my blog to be a refuge for those who are exhausted from the world’s troubles.

While I wasn’t that fervent in being a Catholic, I still considered faith in God to be of utmost importance in my life. And I wanted to let other people know that there is a God who loves them.

But I wasn’t aware then of the dangerous beliefs that were beginning to spread in terms in terms of spirituality. For a person who grew up Catholic like me, spirituality is simply another term for religion. However, it wasn’t the case with many people anymore.

Spirituality became related to “spiritual” things that do not represent formal religion. It may involve some kind of Christianity that still believes in Jesus Christ. Or it may involve what was then called New Age beliefs.

I was almost caught by such a type of spirituality. But God has been merciful and He somehow found a way to lead me back closer to Him, to His Church.

Now that I have regained fervor in my Catholic faith, I experience various dilemmas when it comes to accepting freelance work.

The world today seems to be a mixture of the secular and of that kind of spirituality that veers away from the Catholic faith.

This condition has seeped through mainstream culture and perhaps every other aspect of modern day living.

As a result, I don’t need to look very far when it comes to work that is somehow associated with uncatholic or even unchristian beliefs.

To give you a more specific scenario, let’s start by looking at jobs available on Upwork (one of the websites where freelancers like me can look for a job).

As of this writing, I found the following jobs problematic:

• Editing and content creation for a non-fiction book involving “meditation and spirituality”.

• An e-book writer for a book about astrology.

• A writer for content involving chakra healing.

• Copywriter involving yoga

• Social media manager involving mindfulness topic

What used to belong to New Age believers only has suddenly become an acceptable norm when it comes to business.

They cover areas now in personal development, psychology and even health and fitness.

Meanwhile, when I tried to look for jobs that are specifically for Catholics, I only found ten. Out of the ten jobs, only one is looking for a writer.

One recourse would be to focus on technical writing stuff such as writing about software or finance. Another is to promote your own brand and grow your business promoting Catholic and Christian values.

You can write Catholic books or find platforms like Substack where you can find a community of people who can read and appreciate your work.

It’s not an easy time to be a Catholic. And it’s definitely not an easy age to be a Catholic freelance writer. But if you feel called to be one, don’t despair. Keep up the faith and let God lead the way!

“Dear friends, may no adversity paralyze you. Be afraid neither of the world, nor of the future, nor of your weakness. The Lord has allowed you to live in this moment of history so that, by your faith, his name will continue to resound throughout the world.”―Pope Benedict XVI

Jocelyn Soriano works full-time as a Catholic writer to share the word of God and invite everyone to take refuge in God’s truth and love.

Please support her mission by praying for her and subscribing to this Newsletter. Paid subscribers will receive the following as a token of her gratitude:

• Full access to our Writer’s Resources section

• Full access to the Archive including all posts in our Questions to God section

• Ability to directly reply to the author through email

• Free e-book: “The Secret To Answered Prayers”

• Free e-book: “My Journal on God’s Love”

“Catholics can earn a living by sharing their faith!” Become a paid subscriber and read every post in our Writer’s Resources.