Connecting Catholic Social Teachings and Our Work
Last time we talked a bit about Catholic social teachings and why it was important for us to understand them. The key point here is that understanding the Church's teachings about what makes a just society isn't just an academic exercise. It's not something we can just slough off because we're too busy with our work and our family lives.
To prove the point, let's now make a connection with Catholic social teaching and our work. We'll look at some comments St Paul makes in Philippians 2:2-3:
Sometimes, given the competitiveness of the market and the workplace, we are pushed to not only do our best, but to compete with others as we strive to do our best. Being competitive isn't a bad thing, but it can easily turn the focus of our daily work on us, to the exclusion of the interests of others. And that's not good.
As we saw last time, one reason Leo XIII wrote his encyclical Rerum Novarum was to oppose socialism, which he correctly saw as antithetical to the Faith. But he also criticized capitalism. And so have subsequent Popes in their social encyclicals. There's a lot of controversy amongst American Catholics, especially the more "conservative" types, about popes criticizing capitalism and the "free market." We're not going to get into all that right now, but one thing I believe we can all agree on is that to the extent that capitalism fosters selfishness, it presents a problem, a challenge to the development of a just society. Can we all agree on that?
That's why I was struck by St Paul's comments here. Even if we work in a super-competitive, most especially a "cut-throat" environment, we Catholics need to heed his words.
If you read his words and think about them, it's really simple. Even if you're competing, you ought not be selfish. Heck, if we're called, as Catholics, to pray for our enemies, doesn't it make sense to pray for those with whom we compete? It could be someone in our own company with whom we might be competing for a raise or promotion. It could be those who work for a competitor, against whom we apply our marketing and sales skills to gain market share. Compete, but pray for them too.
Even more to the point of the Church's social teachings, though, is St Paul's comment that each of us "look not only to to his own interests, but also to the interests of others." Here's where the idea that if everyone simply pursues his own self-interest, somehow the good of society as a whole will be served. How can you reconcile St Paul's words with that? I don't think you can.
So if we daily pray for those with whom we work, especially those with whom we compete, we can develop a real "Catholic" sensibility as individuals. We will be in harmony with the Church's social teachings. There's much more we can do, of course. But this is one small way we can understand how our daily work connects with the Church's social teaching.
To prove the point, let's now make a connection with Catholic social teaching and our work. We'll look at some comments St Paul makes in Philippians 2:2-3:
Do nothing from selfishness or conceit, but in humility count others better than yourselves. Let each of you look not only to his own interests, but also to the interests of others.Notice St Paul doesn't say "except when you're at work."
Sometimes, given the competitiveness of the market and the workplace, we are pushed to not only do our best, but to compete with others as we strive to do our best. Being competitive isn't a bad thing, but it can easily turn the focus of our daily work on us, to the exclusion of the interests of others. And that's not good.
As we saw last time, one reason Leo XIII wrote his encyclical Rerum Novarum was to oppose socialism, which he correctly saw as antithetical to the Faith. But he also criticized capitalism. And so have subsequent Popes in their social encyclicals. There's a lot of controversy amongst American Catholics, especially the more "conservative" types, about popes criticizing capitalism and the "free market." We're not going to get into all that right now, but one thing I believe we can all agree on is that to the extent that capitalism fosters selfishness, it presents a problem, a challenge to the development of a just society. Can we all agree on that?
That's why I was struck by St Paul's comments here. Even if we work in a super-competitive, most especially a "cut-throat" environment, we Catholics need to heed his words.
If you read his words and think about them, it's really simple. Even if you're competing, you ought not be selfish. Heck, if we're called, as Catholics, to pray for our enemies, doesn't it make sense to pray for those with whom we compete? It could be someone in our own company with whom we might be competing for a raise or promotion. It could be those who work for a competitor, against whom we apply our marketing and sales skills to gain market share. Compete, but pray for them too.
Even more to the point of the Church's social teachings, though, is St Paul's comment that each of us "look not only to to his own interests, but also to the interests of others." Here's where the idea that if everyone simply pursues his own self-interest, somehow the good of society as a whole will be served. How can you reconcile St Paul's words with that? I don't think you can.
So if we daily pray for those with whom we work, especially those with whom we compete, we can develop a real "Catholic" sensibility as individuals. We will be in harmony with the Church's social teachings. There's much more we can do, of course. But this is one small way we can understand how our daily work connects with the Church's social teaching.
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