Priest Profile

“Teach us, good Lord, to labor and not ask for any reward save that of knowing that we do your will.”

St. Ignatius of Loyola wrote (and prayed) those words back in the 1500s, but he might well have had today's Catholic entrepreneurs in mind. Small Catholic businesses seem to be popping up all over the place — and few are in it solely for the money.

Operating a Catholic startup “requires sacrifice and a lot of work,” Rita Davidson says. Doing business as Little Flowers Family Apostolates, she and her husband, Mark, sell sacramentals, books and educational materials out of their home in Lanark, Ontario. (They're on the Internet at www.lffa-ollmpc.com.)

“People try to get in on it, thinking it's a big cash-in,” Davidson says. “Well, it isn't. It's a ministry. In order to be successful, you must believe that God wants you to do this.”

The company began in 1996 as an outgrowth of her previous home-based business, which sold natural foods and environmentally safe products. In preparing for her daughter's first Communion, Davidson began to fall in love with her Catholic faith. The led her to question the moral underpinnings of the natural-foods industry, which inclines toward New Age spirituality.

The reversion experience led her to develop Little Flowers. Her idea: Market materials that can help draw other families deeper into the Catholic faith.

“I realized that we have a vibrant, living, beautiful faith,” she recalls, “and I wanted to help others to grow in love for that faith by developing a Church in miniature.”

Davidson typed, cut and pasted Little Flowers’ first catalog, aiming for no more ambitious a goal than to supplement her husband's income. As it happened, his business failed soon after. The two considered the potential of Little Flowers to support the family. With the last of their savings, they bought a computer and set up shop.

Today it would be a long stretch to say the business is giving the religious-products establishment a run for its money, but Little Flowers is making it possible for the Davidsons to work together at something the whole family believes in.

The Davidsons have six children, from infant to age 17; they all work together to entertain the youngest ones and pack the orders. Days begin early and end late; often there's not much time left for recreation.

“People tell me that they don't know how we do this. I don't know, either,” Rita says. “God gives us the strength and ability to accomplish what we have to get done. There just aren't enough hours and it's miraculous that it all gets done.”

Heavenly Handiwork

The Peterson family started a Christian jewelry business in their Cranesville, Pa., home more than three years ago by doing what they love — working with their hands. Hence the name of their business: Handmaid for the Lord (www.handmaid-jewelry.com).

“The name has a doubled meaning,” Kathleen Peterson explains. “Our patroness is the Blessed Mother, as she gave her fiat in the Annunciation. Since we find great joy in working with our hands together as a family, it was the perfect name.”

Peterson believes that for any Catholic home business to succeed the endeavor must be turned entirely over to God through prayer. That's why, in 1997, the family enthroned the Sacred Heart in their home; the business is an extension of that enthronement. Now prayer is the framework for every business day and they trust that Christ will lead the business wherever he wants it to go.

The second ingredient to success, Peterson adds, is that every member of the family be involved in some way.

At the Peterson house, Julianna, 16, designs and handcrafts about half the jewelry (Kathleen crafts the remainder), updates the Web site, handles the quarterly taxes and helps pack and ship orders. Lillian, 7, helps make the St. Therese Sacrifice beads and assembles the “thank you” packets that accompany each order. While Gerald, Kathleen's husband, doesn't manually work in the business, he supports it with encouragement and pitching in around the house when necessary.

Praying the rosary together nightly is paramount in the Pineda family. That's how Beth and John Pineda got the idea for Regina Caeli Rosaries and Gifts (e-mail: [email protected]). The Nebraska business, begun a year ago, specializes in custom-made rosaries and chaplets, including unique ladder rosaries.

Most of the work — making the rosaries, tending to administrative, bookkeeping and Internet details — is done late at night after the children, ages 6, 4 and 2, are in bed. Although the kids are too young to fully participate in the business, they help by praying the rosary along with their parents for the success of the business. The Pinedas are expecting another child in June.

The mission of Regina Caeli Rosaries and Gifts is to spread devotion to the holy rosary, promote family prayer and to bring Catholics back to the traditional devotions of the Catholic Church.

“We attend a lot of craft shows,” Beth explains. “Our rosaries are pretty and different and they draw a lot of attention. People think they're necklaces and they ask about them. When we tell them that they're rosaries, they're surprised. Then we teach them a little about the holy rosary. Who knows? Maybe one day they'll find their way to the Church by learning about our rosaries.”

The couple sells nearly 80% of their wares on Ebay, a method that has worked well for them.

As with any Internet business, there are some risks involved. The Pinedas never sell anything that has been blessed (because of the chance of desecration), and they strive to verify that their customers intend to use their products appropriately.

They also make certain all their products are true to the Church. For example, they will not make any rosaries or chaplets that are in sports-team or other secularly symbolic colors.

The business is run part time for now — roughly and hour or two each day — but the Pinedas are open to expansion in the future.

According to the National Association of Home-Based Businesses, there are approximately 20 million home-based businesses in the United States. It's impossible to calculate how many of those are Catholic. But it's safe to say that an appreciable number of the ones that are — like the Davidsons’, Petersons’ and Pinedas’ — are reaping rewards most entrepreneurs know not of.

Marge Fenelon writes from Cudahy, Wisconsin.