How Our Work Holds Up the Entire World Economy
Our work holds up the entire world economy. This isn't an exaggeration. It's a plain, though startling fact.
I've been studying the Church's social and economic teachings - slowly but surely - and from time to time will share some of what I'm learning, specifically in the context of us Catholic men at work. So here goes.
Let's start with some comments about the market economy written by Pope Benedict in 1985 - when he was still Cardinal Ratzinger (i.e., before he was pope). He spoke of the importance of reconciling morality and efficiency in any economy. He claims this by pointing out that any economy is governed by both economic laws and by the decisions of men.
Economic laws focus on efficiency. The decisions of men - for them to be "good" decisions - must spring from their moral sense, ultimately from religion (where true morality originates).
Now to us. Ratzinger says that Christians who manage an economy cannot separate their religious and ethical views from their views of the economy. In other words, religion, specifically morality, cannot be merely a private matter. An economy that truly considers the common good in its decisions and functioning depends on an ethical system (not just economic laws) which is sustained by strong religious convictions.
Now here's the really dramatic statement Ratzinger made back in 1985. He said that a decline of religious convictions can cause the market to collapse.
Remember, this was written before the recent collapse of the stock market during the economic and financial crisis of 2007-2008. I'm guessing that when Ratzinger made his comments in 1985, hardly anyone in the economic world paid much attention. If anything, they probably thought his comments to be an exaggeration.
But they are as clear as a bell: a decline of religious convictions can cause the market to collapse.
So here we are now in 2010, living through the greatest financial crisis since the Great Depression - a crisis that affects every one of us, Catholic and non-Catholic. And here I am, a Catholic man about to go to work today.
Have I always understood the connection between my faith and my work? Well, I have in recent years, as it applies to my sanctifying my work. I know now that how I work is critical to the salvation of my soul, to my eventually becoming a saint (by God's grace) and getting to Heaven.
But I haven't always thought of the importance of my work as it relates to the economy. That seemed a bit beyond my pay grade.
Yet now that I'm taking the time and making the effort to study Catholic social and economic teachings, I'm seeing that my work - in my little corner of the world - does indeed impact the entire economy.
How about you? Can you see this? Do you understand this profound, critically important point?
Whether you work in construction, are responsible for a great organization, have an influential job in government, or run a small business - whatever you do matters to the big picture. And what matters most is that you do not separate your religious and moral convictions from your work - not ever.
It's clear in the teaching of Pope Benedict and the other teaching I'm studying now. And as Catholic men at work, we're all at the very eye of the current storm. We're all responsible for bringing our religion and our morality into our daily work, not keeping them separate. And our responsibility is not only for the salvation our own souls, but the sustaining of the economy as a whole.
The collapse you saw in 2007/2008 - and it may be continuing around us right now - was ultimately due to the collapse in religious and moral conviction. The recovery will come - when a real, sustainable recovery comes - when religious and moral conviction, and a strong ethical sense, again takes hold in the economic decisions we all make.
We Catholic men are an essential part of all this. Our work - done with the conviction that comes from of our religion, from our moral sense - can and will hold up, i.e., sustain, the entire world economy. I guarantee that if we don't do it, no one will.
I've been studying the Church's social and economic teachings - slowly but surely - and from time to time will share some of what I'm learning, specifically in the context of us Catholic men at work. So here goes.
Let's start with some comments about the market economy written by Pope Benedict in 1985 - when he was still Cardinal Ratzinger (i.e., before he was pope). He spoke of the importance of reconciling morality and efficiency in any economy. He claims this by pointing out that any economy is governed by both economic laws and by the decisions of men.
Economic laws focus on efficiency. The decisions of men - for them to be "good" decisions - must spring from their moral sense, ultimately from religion (where true morality originates).
Now to us. Ratzinger says that Christians who manage an economy cannot separate their religious and ethical views from their views of the economy. In other words, religion, specifically morality, cannot be merely a private matter. An economy that truly considers the common good in its decisions and functioning depends on an ethical system (not just economic laws) which is sustained by strong religious convictions.
Now here's the really dramatic statement Ratzinger made back in 1985. He said that a decline of religious convictions can cause the market to collapse.
Remember, this was written before the recent collapse of the stock market during the economic and financial crisis of 2007-2008. I'm guessing that when Ratzinger made his comments in 1985, hardly anyone in the economic world paid much attention. If anything, they probably thought his comments to be an exaggeration.
But they are as clear as a bell: a decline of religious convictions can cause the market to collapse.
So here we are now in 2010, living through the greatest financial crisis since the Great Depression - a crisis that affects every one of us, Catholic and non-Catholic. And here I am, a Catholic man about to go to work today.
Have I always understood the connection between my faith and my work? Well, I have in recent years, as it applies to my sanctifying my work. I know now that how I work is critical to the salvation of my soul, to my eventually becoming a saint (by God's grace) and getting to Heaven.
But I haven't always thought of the importance of my work as it relates to the economy. That seemed a bit beyond my pay grade.
Yet now that I'm taking the time and making the effort to study Catholic social and economic teachings, I'm seeing that my work - in my little corner of the world - does indeed impact the entire economy.
How about you? Can you see this? Do you understand this profound, critically important point?
Whether you work in construction, are responsible for a great organization, have an influential job in government, or run a small business - whatever you do matters to the big picture. And what matters most is that you do not separate your religious and moral convictions from your work - not ever.
It's clear in the teaching of Pope Benedict and the other teaching I'm studying now. And as Catholic men at work, we're all at the very eye of the current storm. We're all responsible for bringing our religion and our morality into our daily work, not keeping them separate. And our responsibility is not only for the salvation our own souls, but the sustaining of the economy as a whole.
The collapse you saw in 2007/2008 - and it may be continuing around us right now - was ultimately due to the collapse in religious and moral conviction. The recovery will come - when a real, sustainable recovery comes - when religious and moral conviction, and a strong ethical sense, again takes hold in the economic decisions we all make.
We Catholic men are an essential part of all this. Our work - done with the conviction that comes from of our religion, from our moral sense - can and will hold up, i.e., sustain, the entire world economy. I guarantee that if we don't do it, no one will.
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