One of the things that helps the church to grow strong is when we make connections with other Catholics.
Notice that I don’t use the word “networking.” I would like you to get away from the idea that you connect with people because they’re useful to you.
I’m sure some of you have received messages or texts from people you barely know who want to talk to you about a business opportunity.
And you just know that the business opportunity will involve multi-level marketing (MLM).
This is what I’m talking about: monetising your friendship group with your side-hustle.
When your friends become your paid clients, you change the relationship completely. It’s very hard to go back to being friends afterwards.
There’s a broad spectrum of this in the church in Australia. At one end, it’s professional and benevolent.
A good Catholic doctor or dentist treats fellow Catholics who he knows personally. He can help them out with reduced fees or bulk billing because they have a large family and/or very little money.
Catholic tradespeople may do work for each other’s families for mate’s rates.
Then there’s the non-professional help. You have access to a steady supply of items that may be helpful, so you share them around.
Or you make amazing gluten-free biscuits, or mantillas, or first Communion dresses, or rosaries. You’re happy to do this on a cost, commission, or barter basis.
This is also the case if you’re fund-raising. We have a parish cake and craft stall, and I enjoy making jam as my hobby.
The price of the jam is based on what I think people in the parish are willing to pay for jam that’s made by me in a home kitchen.
It’s going to be less than the supermarket price for good jam, not that rubbery cheap stuff. I keep costs down by asking people in the parish to donate their empty glass jars.
Many people in my parish—the ones who like eating jam—are on fixed and low incomes like aged pensions, so I factor this in as well.
All the proceeds go directly to the parish, not to me. The cost of everything is my gift.
I enjoy myself, jam-eaters get nice affordable jam, and the parish raises funds. It’s win-win all the way, and I always eat the leftovers.
The labourer is worthy of his hire (1 Tim 5:18). There’s nothing wrong with asking people to pay for things that you can make or do.
Where I think it’s less benevolent is when we get into things like MLM.
This started years ago in some American Christian communities where women started selling essential oils to each other.
From there it spread into the Catholic community in the US, and from there to Australia.
MLM schemes work best when you turn your friends into ongoing clients, and they in turn recruit clients.
Leaving aside the often-wild claims made about the essential oils, the real damage is usually done to healthy Catholic friendships.
It’s the same, no matter what you’re selling. If you try to monetise your friendship group, you risk losing the friendships.
All it takes is for one thing to go wrong—one unhappy customer—and you will find that what were spiritually helpful relationships start to cool off.
But even without that, you’ve changed the nature of the friendship. It may be harder for your clients to continue to see you as a Catholic friend.
I know you love your side-hustle. It’s terrific. But why not turn it into something that’s more at the benevolent end of the spectrum?
We need each other very much in the church. We are in communion with each other, and we grow stronger by encouraging each other in our faith.
You literally can’t get to heaven without other people. They are the iron that sharpens you, the challenge that tests you, and the rock that supports you.
The reason for every interaction should be to build up the Body of Christ. We’re not here to make a quick buck off each other.
So maybe this could be your New Year’s Resolution for 2025? Make connections—real ones—with more of your fellow Catholics.
Go to more Catholic events. Encourage everyone in all your words and actions.
But put your tap-and-go device away for a bit and see where that takes you.
Next time, we’re going to look at the flipside of this—when Catholics won’t pay for stuff, what they won’t pay for, and the possible reasons why.