As a devout Catholic, Jeff Schiefelbein has always tried to incorporate his Catholic faith into his Dallas-area consulting company, Undivided Life. 

But with the ever-changing nature of a business, it became difficult to find intentional formation opportunities for himself and his employees to grow in faith at work.  

That is, until Schiefelbein learned about His Way at Work and the organization’s efforts to help business leaders consecrate their company to the Sacred Heart, which his team completed in November.

“The consecration has made our prayers deeper. It’s made our commitment to living out the virtues more prominent. You can feel this sense of freedom, a sense of purpose, and a sense of just grace among all the members of our teams,” Schiefelbein told the Register. “None of us took this as a box-checking moment or just another novena that was convenient to do.”

Schiefelbein’s company, Undivided Life, is a strategy and culture consulting firm focused on helping organizations grow and promote human flourishing. He therefore saw the consecration as an important step to supporting culture within his own company. 

“This was such a big lift; for us, it refocused everybody who entered into it with the right intentions and the right clarity of heart,” Schiefelbein added. 

His Way at Work is a nonprofit based in Spartanburg, South Carolina, and Cumming, Georgia, that seeks to help business leaders incorporate the Catholic faith into their companies. Ryan Foley, who serves as the international executive director, says that the company aims to help businesses and employees center their companies on Christ and minister to what Foley argues is an often-overlooked group within the Church. 

“They are definitely not part of our strategic plan in a parish boundary as to how we care for the citizens in this area,” he said of business leaders. 

“What I hope to do is to consecrate tens of thousands of businesses,” he added, “to connect them into community with each other as the association of consecrated businesses” and introduce other aspects of His Way at Work strategies into their companies. 

His Way at Work was founded in 2008 by Peter Freissle, an entrepreneur and CEO who experienced a reversion to the faith while on a retreat. 

Upon returning from the retreat, he realized that he could not keep his professional life and Catholic life separate. 

“Peter saw himself as a submarine Catholic,” where he would come “up on Sundays” and then “do a deep dive on Monday into work,” living “a very bifurcated life,” Foley said. “Based on that conversion, he came back and realized, ‘I need to put my faith into action in my work,’ like remove the bifurcation of behaviors; but there’s no manual for how to deploy your faith at work and to have business as a ministry.”

“So, over time, he developed a methodology to do that.”

Thus, His Way at Work was born. 

Consecration not only helps promote Catholicity within these companies; it also encourages a healthier work environment. 

“There’s a pragmatic aspect with the consecration, in that people feel cared for; there’s a better understanding of emotional intelligence; thus a company’s retention generally increases because people don’t want to leave,” Foley said. “The consecration unlocks the discretionary effort of the employees, so they want to bring more of themselves to work. And when people do that, usually the company derives greater value from that.” 

At the heart of His Way at Work is a mission to transform workplace culture through implementing the “Caring Matrix” for help employees feel well cared for as part of company culture. 

“Peter developed the methodology that examines the DNA of the business,” Foley said. “On one axis, it’s the physical, the spiritual and the emotional needs of their employees. And on the other hand, it’s: How do we help employees, their families, our customers, become successful and fulfilled?” 

Archbishop Salvatore Cordileone of San Francisco serves as the episcopal adviser to His Way at Work. The apostolate, he says, does crucial work evangelizing and ministering to companies.

“His Way at Work helps people bring their faith into the place where they spend most of their lives, the workplace, showing that the bottom line in business can include a genuine path to holiness, service, and human dignity,” Archbishop Cordileone told the Register via email. “It provides a way to place God at the center of economic life and human relationships. When done effectively, this can build cultures that authentically care for employees, customers, families and communities with genuine love and moral responsibility.”

Entrusting Business to the Sacred Heart

Encouraging companies to consecrate themselves to the Sacred Heart is at the center of it all.

The idea came after Foley hosted a retreat for 27 business owners while he was working for Covenant Eyes. During the retreat, Foley invited his peers to consecrate themselves to the Sacred Heart. 

Among those in attendance was Freissle. 

“While planning that retreat, I was like, ‘We need to offer them something; we just can’t drink bourbon and cigars over the weekend and talk about our problems,’” Foley said. “So we decided to offer them an opportunity to consecrate their business while they were there. We wrote a novena, and we wrote a prayer, and we formalized the consecration.” 

When Foley joined His Way at Work a few years later, he set to work implementing the consecration. 

“We have a beautiful kit that has the consecration guidebook, a video series, a leather portfolio, a display portfolio that has Jesus on one end and your certificate of consecration on the other. So, we give them a kit to help them in this journey,” Foley said. “We will do consecration Masses at nearby parishes, and you may see anywhere between 25 and 68 company owners come and consecrate.”

“I think there is a very deep desire to consecrate a business ... about inviting God into my business,” he added.

When a company signs up for the consecration, His Way at Work sends the kit with detailed instructions on how leaders can effectively invite employees to participate in the consecration. 

It includes a nine-day novena, a video series produced by His Way at Work and other accompaniment materials. 

Here is the prayer itself:

COMPANY CONSECRATION:

TO THE SACRED HEART OF JESUS

Lord Jesus Christ, King of the Universe and Head of the Church, thank you for creating and redeeming me, and calling me to put all my gifts, talents, and skills at the service of building up your eternal Kingdom here on earth.

Today, with full freedom and fervent hope in your infinite goodness, I consecrate to you and the transforming love of your Most Sacred Heart this company, [name of my company].

I recognize that this company ultimately belongs to you and that, as its leader, I am your steward and representative. As such, I promise and commit to leading this company following your example of integrity, generosity, justice, mercy, and self-sacrificial love.

I can do nothing without you, and so I humbly ask you to help me:

• Be a blessing to everyone who works for me every day and every hour.

• Stay alert to the needs and opportunities of those around me so that I never turn success or money into idols that poison my heart.

• Believe firmly that when a company truly flourishes as a community of persons, it will also flourish in its service to society.

• Repent and start afresh with luminous hope whenever my thoughts, words, or actions fail to reflect your wisdom, love, and truth.

Amen.

In the Name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.
 
Amen.

For the 400 companies that have done the consecration so far, doing so was a no-brainer. 

“A long time ago I started praying for the Precious Blood of Jesus Christ to comfort me, to cover me, to protect me, to lead me. And I thought it was a beautiful devotion,” Schiefelbein said. “A few months ago, someone started telling me that there was a group that truly did this for businesses.” 

 

Archbishop Cordileone emphasized that this consecration transforms a company and its employees. 

“Consecrating a company to the Sacred Heart places Christ’s love at the center of business decisions, reminding leaders that in addition to generating healthy financial returns, they are stewards called to lead with integrity, compassion, and responsibility for people,” Archbishop Cordileone said. “This consecration is not merely symbolic. It becomes a framework for daily practice — a commitment that shapes how leaders treat employees, serve their communities, and make ethical decisions.”

Even young businesses, like the web design company Kemme Kreative, have found great value in doing the consecration. The company’s founder, Henry Kemme, completed the consecration this past December. 

“I believe that I don’t own the business, God does, and he simply gave me all the gifts and the talents necessary to run the business, so I really want to reflect that to all my employees, everyone around me, that I just put in the work and God kind of does the rest,” said Kemme, a senior at Benedictine College in Atchison, Kansas. “I’ve always wanted to commit my business to the Lord, and I thought that this consecration was probably the best way to do that.” 

When Kemme shared with friends and peers, even those who aren’t Catholic, that he was consecrating his company, the support was overwhelming. 

“They are all very supportive, and I had a lot of my peers who weren’t Catholic reach out and say that they really respected it and that they admired it,” Kemme said. “I think a lot of people have a longing to give their business to Jesus. My hope is that a lot of other business owners will go ahead and do the consecration as well.”

“Through the consecration, I was able to pray with and reflect on what type of business I want to build, how I want to treat my employees, what kind of culture I want to create or my employees, my clients,” Kemme added. “I began thinking about the things I have to do in order to make God the center of the business. And consecrating it to the Sacred Heart seemed like an easy place to start.”

As Schiefelbein led his company through the novena, he has seen the graces of the consecration at work. 

“What we’ve just seen is that our employees and I are living a more Christ-centered, faith-first approach to every part of our work.”