Some Things We Can Do at Work to Solve the Economic Crisis
Here are some things we can do to solve the economic crisis - specifically things we can do at work.
Pope Benedict recently talked about "Realism and Hope in the Face of the Crisis." He points out how the gravity and complexity of this crisis calls for increased involvement of Christians in society. We can't leave possible solutions in the hands of economists, government, and central banks. Economic and political solutions will fall short. Here is what our focus needs to be:
But besides your good ideas about what needs to done, we Catholics need to take action - each one of us. Here's my simple recommendation for us single and married Catholic men at work starting right now. Every one of us can do this.
Live your faith at work every chance you get. Don't be shy about being Catholic. You don't have to walk around praying the rosary of course. But you can be chaste in your words and actions. You can avoid all words and actions that are vulgar or impure. Don't use any bad language - even with other men. (You really don't need to swear all the time to be manly.)
It's a simple suggestion and just a start. But so many workplaces are infected with secular culture - if not outright filth, then with mindless trivial nonsense. (Just turn on the TV, the radio, or watch the average movie and you'll know what I'm talking about.) Your setting a good example will rub off over time. It really will.
If you're in a position to contribute at a higher level, great. But don't skip this fundamental step.
Look at it this way. If you don't think my simple suggestion will help solve the current economic crisis, then you don't understand that it's not just a matter of improving how we manufacture products or provide services, or addressing the dislocations in financial markets, or even reforming the monetary system. Those are all important, but more important is us - people. And you can't promote the dignity of the human person in the vulgar, filthy, trivial pit of secular pop culture that so many of us live in. Start changing it today!
Pope Benedict recently talked about "Realism and Hope in the Face of the Crisis." He points out how the gravity and complexity of this crisis calls for increased involvement of Christians in society. We can't leave possible solutions in the hands of economists, government, and central banks. Economic and political solutions will fall short. Here is what our focus needs to be:
"...its central and indispensable goal must remain the search for the common good, correctly understood, and the promotion and protection of the inalienable dignity of the human person."This comes right out of Catholic social teaching. The teaching is clear. It points to the fact that our economic crisis isn't just a matter of mere economics. Catholic social teaching focuses on the dignity of the human person. Here are some general suggestions Our Holy Father makes:
"The areas in which this decisive discernment is to be exercised are those touching the most vital and delicate interests of the person, the place where the fundamental choices regarding the meaning of life and the search for happiness are made. These areas are not separate from one another but profoundly interconnected; they possess a manifest continuum which is constituted by respect for the transcendent dignity of human beings, rooted in the fact that they were made in the image of the Creator and are the ultimate goal of any authentically human social justice.I'm sure we could all come up with any number of suggestions for promoting the common good and protecting the dignity of the human person if we put a little thought into it. And remember that our Holy Father's suggestions show us that economic "fixes" - all that stuff we read about what government and central banks are doing like bail-outs, quantitative easing, austerity measures, etc., won't get to the core problems of our crisis. The core of the crisis lies within us. We need to reform ourselves and help reform our world.
"The commitment to respecting life in all its phases from conception to natural end - and the consequent rejection of abortion, euthanasia and any form of eugenics - is, in fact, interwoven with respecting marriage as an indissoluble union between a man and a woman and, in its turn, as the foundation for the community of family life. ... Thus the family, the basic cell of society, is the root which nourishes not only the individual human being, but the very foundations of social coexistence".
But besides your good ideas about what needs to done, we Catholics need to take action - each one of us. Here's my simple recommendation for us single and married Catholic men at work starting right now. Every one of us can do this.
Live your faith at work every chance you get. Don't be shy about being Catholic. You don't have to walk around praying the rosary of course. But you can be chaste in your words and actions. You can avoid all words and actions that are vulgar or impure. Don't use any bad language - even with other men. (You really don't need to swear all the time to be manly.)
It's a simple suggestion and just a start. But so many workplaces are infected with secular culture - if not outright filth, then with mindless trivial nonsense. (Just turn on the TV, the radio, or watch the average movie and you'll know what I'm talking about.) Your setting a good example will rub off over time. It really will.
If you're in a position to contribute at a higher level, great. But don't skip this fundamental step.
Look at it this way. If you don't think my simple suggestion will help solve the current economic crisis, then you don't understand that it's not just a matter of improving how we manufacture products or provide services, or addressing the dislocations in financial markets, or even reforming the monetary system. Those are all important, but more important is us - people. And you can't promote the dignity of the human person in the vulgar, filthy, trivial pit of secular pop culture that so many of us live in. Start changing it today!
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