Supporting Fellow Catholics and Catholic Beliefs

Car commercials from the 1950’s are a hoot. I say this because I came across some recently.

Although interesting, these relics of a bygone era where actually slightly boring compared to the slick commercials of today!  Of course, the low production values of the commercials  (compared to today) reflected the videographic technology of the 50s.

Be that as it may, these old commercials had something absent in today’s commercials.  The advertisements actually told you about the product. The commercials touted the latest features compared to the previous year’s models. The focus was on function.

But times have changed and so has advertising.  Advertising shifted from selling the function of the product to emphasizing moods, feelings, and status.  And today’s commercials are going even further.

Today, it seems, companies are no longer selling products.  They are trying to sell lifestyles.  And often the lifestyles are not ones aligned with Catholic doctrine or Christ’s teachings.

Awakened by Gillette

In 2019, Gillette aired an advertisement that put down white males by featuring obvious stereotypes.  I have not purchased another Gillette product since the commercial aired.

Please, do not get me wrong.  I am not angry about the advertisement.  But the commercial did show me how this company saw me.  They clearly did not see me as a someone made in God’s image.

Can you imagine a car company airing a commercial depicting the stereotype that all women are bad drivers?  I would expect that it would lose sales to women.  They might  also lose sales to men (including myself) because of how they see our wives and daughters.

But Gillette is not the only company that may see things this way.  Coca-Cola is another company that comes to mind.   Some if its internal training, exposed by a person in the  company, reeks of critical race theory.

In many ways, I recently ‘woke’ up (pun intended) and started asking myself, what do companies value today?  What do companies really do with their earnings?

For example, we as Catholics oppose the execution of children in the womb for the crime of being an inconvenience.  This practice is called abortion (as opposed to what it is – infanticide) to make it sound more palatable.  So I wondered, what companies support giving to Planned Parenthood?  It turns out that is actually a simple question to answer.  With this knowledge, one can make buying decisions to avoid indirect support of abortion.

Considering Catholic Businesses

As Catholics, each of us has the power to make decisions that can support our Catholic beliefs or undermine them.  Here are some examples.

In its effort to be “inclusive” of all lifestyles, Starbucks has created an environment that promotes sin and excludes faithful Catholics.  But Starbucks is not the only game in town for a cup of coffee.  There are other national chains and most cities have thriving local coffee shops.

In my current hometown, a small independent coffee shop operates just a few doors down from one of our Catholic Churches.  They offer excellent service and good products.  Moreover, the owner of the building reclaimed it – it was a former house of ill repute.  I like going there just because of what it symbolizes.

To go a step further, instead of buying Starbucks brand coffee, why not buy coffee manufactured by Catholics.  The Carmelite Monks in Wyoming, for instance, are the makers of Mystic Monk Coffee.  Believe it or not, there are other Catholic Coffee brands as well.

After some digging, I learned that many cloisters and abbeys also support themselves by making goods and providing services.  Just some of the goods provided by religious communities are cheese, jam, cookies, fudge, and even hot sauce!  For example, Monastery Greetings is a mail order company that specializes in these products.

Supporting Catholic businesses is a way of extending our tithings.  All businesses need to make a profit and by supporting Catholic business, we influence how those profits are spent.  In some cases, we are directly supporting our fellow Ordained Catholics.

Supporting Local Parishioners

Several years back, my wife suggested we start buying local using the principles of the 3/50 project.  The formula is simple: Pick three local businesses you would miss if they were gone.  Each month spend $50 at each of these business.

Why do this?  The reason is, on average for every $50 dollars spent locally, $34 dollars stays local.  When you buy from Amazon or some other online business, $0 stays local.

So, who are your local businesses?  I would recommend starting by reading the sponsors in one’s parish bulletin.

Instead of dining at a national chain restaurant, why not go to the independent one run by the guy who may sit 3 pews in front of you?  Instead of going to Midas for a brake job, why go to that family run business that advertises on page 7 of the bulletin?

Making Choices to Support the Faithful

In this physical world, all of us purchase goods and services.  And I would hope that none of us intentionally want to support sinful behavior.  However, most of us indirectly do so through our purchases, unbeknownst to us.

All of us should be aware of how our choices affect the world.  It is difficult for us to know how the profits the companies we buy from are used.  Nevertheless, sometimes those we buy from are proud to tell us.  If they are proud of their sin, perhaps it is time to make a change.

Why not shift our habits, even if it takes a little more effort to support follow Catholics.  Perhaps the extra effort is the point.