Finding gainful employment is not easy, and unemployment can lead to an increase in stress, especially when you are trying to support a growing family.
Whatever your situation may be, it is always beneficial to turn to God, asking him for guidance and help in finding what you seek.
Here is a short collection of Catholic prayers for employment to help maintain a trustful spirit during your time of trial.
Dear Saint Joseph, you were yourself once faced with the responsibility of providing the necessities of life for Jesus and Mary. Look down with fatherly compassion upon me in my anxiety over my present inability to support my family. Please help me to find gainful employment very soon, so that this heavy burden of concern will be lifted from my heart and that I am soon able to provide for those whom God has entrusted to my care. Help us to guard against bitterness and discouragement, so that we may emerge from this trial spiritually enriched and with even greater blessings from God. Amen.
O Lord, grant me your divine light, that I may know the designs of your providence concerning me, and that, filled with a sincere desire for my soul's salvation, I may say, with the young man in the Gospel: "What must I do to be saved?” All options are before me; but, still undecided what to do, I await your commands, I offer myself to you without restriction, without reserve, with a most perfect submission.
Speak, Lord, to my soul; speak to me as you did to the youthful Samuel: “Speak to me, Lord; for your servant is listening.” I cast myself at your feet, and I am ready to do your will.
Lord, help me find stable and suitable employment. And when I do find work, may I make good use of my time, regarding it as a treasure. Help me to grow in the virtue of order, doing my work punctually, attentively and steadfastly. May I develop a well-structured plan that will permit me to live my spiritual life, family life, professional life and social life in a balanced way.
Blessed St. Joseph,
your task as a guardian of the Redeemer
and a protector of Virgin Mary
made you the head of the Holy Family
and the administrator of its material possessions.
Today, I am also looking for work,
and I am calling on you,
as a powerful mediator who, with the help of your spouse,
will defend me before your Son,
to help me find a way to live off the fruits my work.
Teach me how to be active in my search,
open to new opportunities, honest in my relations,
reasonable in my demands,
determined in fulfilling all of my obligations.
St. Joseph of Good Hope,
pray for me, protect me, guide me
and keep my hopes up.
Amen.
Lord, I feel stranded and abandoned. Although I am surrounded by well-wishers, there is a sense of isolation. Friends who had pledged support are falling away. No one can know precisely what I am feeling right now; I cannot show them how frightened I am of this uncertain path that lays before me. I know only that it is a path I would not choose for myself. Only you, Christ, understand how I vacillate between trust and heart-gripping fear, between “let this cup pass from me” and “Thy will be done.”
Invoke St. Walter for help with workplace stress. A simple prayer that may be helpful is the popular “Serenity Prayer,” asking God to help you discern the best course of action in your stressful situation.
St. Walter of Pontoise, pray for us!
