I was reading the bulletin board outside a church in Hong Kong the first Sunday after Easter way back in 2006, and there was a letter from the Pope at that time. I like to read what Popes have to say, and I was astonished to read this:
1. We necessarily help others before we help ourselves.
2. I am not in the personal transformation business, but small business necessarily transforms oneself and others.
3. With the necessary passion/joy nexus upon which small business is built, the experience is somewhat religious.
4. We tend to be "nonprofit" in the sense I laid out in the post on taxes, that is we spend every cent pursuing our mission, and every cent spent goes to build another business.
5. We are necessarily "richer" than anyone else because we figured out what we want to do. So is it that sense of "mission" that makes us like the saints in their charitable work?
6. Like Catholic schools and hospitals, we'll do business with anyone, regardless of race, creed, blah blah blah...
The Pope goes on:
And of course the most critical piece of social welfare is a job, and self-employment begets self-employment, as people form mutually beneficial relationships and employees branch out and start their own businesses.
I bought a copy of the Catechism of the Catholic Church as soon as it came out, to learn what the Church actually teaches, contrary to the nonsense many people say it teaches. I had heard about a The Compendium of the Social Teaching of the Church which purports to suggest concrete actions given what the church teaches. I was finally prevailed upon to buy a copy, and now it is my favorite of the two. The book is surprisingly balanced and the right people dislike it. I highly recommend it.
So there is your Sunday assignment. As an act of charity, start a business.
Feel free to forward this by email to three of your friends.
Thanks to men and women obedient to the Holy Spirit, many forms of charitable work intended to promote development have arisen in the Church: hospitals, universities, professional formation schools, and small businesses.Now, in that list is small business? We are up there with Mother Teresa in our work? In what ways? I had to think about this...
1. We necessarily help others before we help ourselves.
2. I am not in the personal transformation business, but small business necessarily transforms oneself and others.
3. With the necessary passion/joy nexus upon which small business is built, the experience is somewhat religious.
4. We tend to be "nonprofit" in the sense I laid out in the post on taxes, that is we spend every cent pursuing our mission, and every cent spent goes to build another business.
5. We are necessarily "richer" than anyone else because we figured out what we want to do. So is it that sense of "mission" that makes us like the saints in their charitable work?
6. Like Catholic schools and hospitals, we'll do business with anyone, regardless of race, creed, blah blah blah...
The Pope goes on:
Such initiatives demonstrate the genuine humanitarian concern of those moved by the Gospel message, far in advance of other forms of social welfare. These charitable activities point out the way to achieve a globalization that is focused upon the true good of mankind and, hence, the path towards authentic peace.Perzactly! The Gospel message is love, and that is the heart of any true rEVOLution. Nonviolent, mutually beneficial, voluntary association, etc. I'd rather be in a religious hospital than a public-funded hospital, I think most people would (although in USA most religious hospitals now are in name only) anywhere in the world. Or another way, I'd rather be in charity-based schools and hospitals than public-(government)-based institutions.
And of course the most critical piece of social welfare is a job, and self-employment begets self-employment, as people form mutually beneficial relationships and employees branch out and start their own businesses.
I bought a copy of the Catechism of the Catholic Church as soon as it came out, to learn what the Church actually teaches, contrary to the nonsense many people say it teaches. I had heard about a The Compendium of the Social Teaching of the Church which purports to suggest concrete actions given what the church teaches. I was finally prevailed upon to buy a copy, and now it is my favorite of the two. The book is surprisingly balanced and the right people dislike it. I highly recommend it.
So there is your Sunday assignment. As an act of charity, start a business.
Feel free to forward this by email to three of your friends.
0 comments:
Post a Comment