Challenge to business

Though with priesthood I have left behind active involvement in business, I continue to monitor developments in this area, insofar as they are relevant to my ministry. They, too, need evangelization, you know.

The newspapers sometimes make good reports on these matters. There are of course some business journals around. And my friends and former colleagues continue to fill me in with data. These are how I update myself.

Right now, I am happy that certain economic indicators are showing good signs. It seems that the fundamentals are in place.

Inflation and interest rates are low. The peso is gaining strength, many thanks to our OFWs. "Hot money" from foreign investors are pouring in. Price of gas has gone down. Our budget is getting balanced.

There appears to be a surge of activity in the construction industry. Banks look like they are super-liquid. Treasury bills are selling low. And overall, I hear more often now that business in almost any field is picking up.

The picture looks good. I would advise our sour-graping ideologues and politicians to be more constructive in their interventions. Of course, not all is perfect, but we cannot deny that there are clear improvements taking place now.

I hope and pray that this present economic upswing continues and its effects trickle down to our people. This is a big challenge to meet. The faces of poverty and misery are still around us.

It’s truly a grating scandal to have these forms of poverty still blighting a good number of our people. Of course, our Lord said that we will always have the poor, but this doesn’t mean we should be complacent with our poverty problem.

I pray that the gains we enjoy now are not wasted because of mismanagement, and things like dirty politics and corruption, not negligible at all in our country, to say the least.

While we hope that the numbers will be always right, we have to remember that our economic concerns go far beyond figures, and even beyond the best entrepreneurial criteria. They involve our total development as persons and as children of God. This is the real challenge.

This means that while business and economic activities cause many good things like generation of jobs and income, development of many projects, they should be conducted in such a way that we become more human and Christian.

They should foster integral development in the personal, family and social aspects. Not only our material and temporal dimensions should be taken care of. Our spiritual development is even more important.

All players in business and economics should be imbued with such sensitivity that their actions and decisions impact not only on the temporal common good, but also on the eternal common good.

In short, they have to realize that their activities, while obviously enjoying a certain autonomy, are an integral part of their relationship with God. They are a significant element in their virtue of religion. They are never foreign to religion.

They have to be driven by an operative and clearly defined spirituality that knows how to deal with temporal and mundane affairs. Such spirituality therefore has to be versed with the Church’s social doctrine, especially that of stewardship and solidarity.

Those involved in business should be skilled in dealing with money, power, fame, temptations, and other worldly perks. More than that, they have to know how to purify the structures to make them conducive to proper human growth.

Good intentions are not enough. There should have real, solid competence. And with the mentality of a servant, eager to help, humble, passing unnoticed, etc. They should know how to work with anyone and in any situation, without getting lost and without entering into sinful compromises.

To them, the pursuit for money and power should not be a corrupting influence, but rather should always spur their great desires-both practical and prudent-to help the people and to contribute to the common good. These are not pipe dreams. These are necessary ideals and standards waiting for us to translate into reality. This is the challenge to business.

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