CENTER FOR CATHOLIC STUDIES TO: WBC AND MICAH PARTICIPANTS FROM: MONSIGNOR RICHARD M. LIDDY SUBJECT: THE VOCATION OF THE BUSINESS LEADER AND GROWING ECONOMIC AND SOCIAL INEQUALITY DATE: WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 26, 2014 Welcme and Self-Intrductins Wdstck Business Cnference Missin Statement The missin f the Wdstck Business Cnference is t establish and lead a natinal and internatinal netwrk f business men and wmen t explre their respective religius traditins in rder t assist the individual executives: T integrate faith, family and prfessinal life, T develp a crprate culture that is reflective f their religius faith and values and T exercise a beneficial influence upn sciety at large The cnference, grunded in the Rman Cathlic traditin, welcmes believers wh are pen t and respectful f ne anther s religius traditin. It is cmmitted t the cnvictin that ethics and values grw ut f ne s religius heritage. SCRIPTURE: Isaiah 42: 1-9 The Servant f the Lrd Here is my servant whm I uphld, my chsen ne with whm I am well pleased. Upn whm I have put my spirit; he shall bring frth justice t the natins, nt crying ut, nt shuting, nt making his vice heard in the street. A bruised reed he shall nt break, and a smldering wick he shall nt quench, until he established justice n the earth; the castlands will wait fr his teaching. Thus says Gd, the Lrd, wh created the heavens and stretched them ut, wh 1
spreads ut the earth with its crp, wh gives breath t its peple and spirit t thse wh walk n it. I the Lrd, have called yu fr the victry f justice, I have grasp yu by the hand; I frmed yu, and set yu as a cvenant f the peple, a light t the natins. T pen the eyes f the blind, t bring prisners frm cnfinement, and frm the dungen, thse wh live in darkness. I am the Lrd; this is my name; my glry I give t n ther, nr my praise t idls. See, the earlier things have cme t pass, new nes I nw fretell; befre they spring int being, I annunce them t yu. Quiet Reflectin 5 minutes fllwed by sharing insights TOPIC: Chris Lwney article n Peter Faber; Rbert Reich article n Jblessness PETER FABER: THE NEW PATRON SAINT OF BUSINESS? Chris Lwney Jan. 11, 2014 I want t prpse a new patrn saint fr business peple: Peter Faber. On Dec. 17, Ppe Francis signed the bull f cannizatin recgnizing Faber as a saint, and the relatively lw-key elevatin -- n rnate Mass in St. Peter's Square fr pr Faber -- is in keeping with his relative bscurity in the Jesuit panthen. Faber was amng the handful wh cfunded the Jesuit rder in the mid-1500s, but he never quite attained the renwn f St. Ignatius f Lyla and St. Francis Xavier. N Jesuit church is cmplete withut sme triumphalistic mural r statuary f Lyla r Xavier. But Faber? He is usually ne f an indistinguishable line f black-rbed Jesuit extras, lking plastically pius at stage left f the mural. His ministry was vital but nt headline-grabbing. He was an extrardinarily capable spiritual directr wh reinvigrated clergy and bishps wh had grwn decadent, and patiently drew wavering Cathlics back t the fld at a time when the Prtestant Refrmatin was sweeping Eurpe. In an interview with La Civiltà Cattlica, Francis praised Faber's style, his "dialgue with all... even with his ppnents... his simple piety... his careful interir discernment... capable f being s gentle and lving." Faber's patient but ever-persistent utreach, his "frntier spirit" s t speak, embdies the culture change Francis is trying t engender in ur church at large. But hw des Faber becme my patrn saint f business? Once, n missin t Mainz in Germany, he was appalled by its widespread pverty. "Having arisen in the quiet f the night t pray," he wrte, "I felt strngly inspired t d my very utmst t prvide fr the needy and hmeless sick wandering abut the city f Mainz." Faber, estimating that there were sme 6,500 beggars in the city, cncluded: "Perhaps if we [Jesuits] 2
had a flair fr business... and we had nt such a [spiritual] harvest t be reaped... we culd cncern urselves mre with this prblem."faber's visin f the psitive rle f business is remarkable. He wrte tw centuries befre Adam Smith lifted a pen, during an era when the Cathlic Church generally lked askance at business. Yet in a few shrt phrases, Faber crystallizes a prfund and prfundly challenging philsphy f business. First, business, when dne well, plays an unparalleled rle in enabling individuals t supprt themselves and their families with dignity. Faber's reactin upn seeing s many beggars? Nt "We need a sup kitchen" but "We need businesses." Of curse, charity is als essential: Jesus tld us we're ging t hell if we dn't clth the naked and feed the hungry. But Faber als perceives the unique rle f business in creating psitive, systemic, lng-term scietal change. Secnd, Faber recgnizes that great businesspeple have a "flair." The imaginatin t identify unmet needs, the willingness t try smething new and bear the risk f failure, the scrupulus attentin t detailed executin, the ability t inspire team members, and a hundred ther things all mark the flair f gd business peple. These are talents, gifts frm Gd, and ught t be recgnized as such. It is nt a sin t succeed in business by emplying these talents fully. But Faber implicitly challenges businesspeple that their talents are nly being used well when they maintain a prper perspective n life. Business and mney-making are nt the highest ends: "If there were nt such a harvest f suls t reaped," Faber writes. Our destiny lies beynd this wrld, and we're here fr purpses beynd what we can sell, trade, build, buy, flaunt r wn during this shrt earthly sjurn. That includes, if we are businesspeple, remaining aware that ur every business decisin impacts, fr better r ill, the lives f emplyees, custmers, sharehlders and cmmunities. Faber's visin f business is an ennbling, inspiring ne. Entrepreneurs with a Faber-style flair fr business dn't think nly f "enhancing sharehlder value" and making themselves hgwhimperingly rich; they hp ut f bed each mrning feeling blessed t help fellw citizens use their talents, supprt their families in a highly dignified way, and alleviate pverty in their cmmunities. Francis' apstlic exhrtatin, Evangelii Gaudium, als has plenty t say abut the rle f business, launching salvs, fr example, at a business culture that smetimes turns mney int a mdern-day glden calf. Cathlics and pundits mre generally have rushed t react with predictable party-line trpes. Republican Cathlics tsk-tsk that the ppe really desn't understand hw markets wrk; Demcratic Cathlics reduce the ppe's agenda t nthing mre than an endrsement fr mre aggressively redistributinist tax plicies. But a clse read f his exhrtatin reveals challenges and affirmatins fr all Cathlic parties and tribes in this debate. In fact, the ppe, like Faber, is calling businesspeple and all f us t pnder ur human vcatin in much mre fundamental ways. After all, that's what great leaders d, whether ppes r entrepreneurs with a flair fr business. They try t inspire us t transcend ur idelgies and differences and calesce arund a higher viewpint.chris Lwney, authr f Ppe Francis: Why He Leads the Way He Leads (Lyla Press), was frmerly a managing directr f J.P. Mrgan & 3
C. and nw chairs the bard f Cathlic Health Initiatives, ne f the natin's largest health care/hspital systems.] Saint was the first Jesuit rdained St. Peter Faber, wh was brn in 1506 in what is nw France, shared ldgings with Ignatius and Francis Xavier at the Cllege f St. Barbara at the University f Paris. Faber was the first f the Jesuits t be rdained a priest and he celebrated the Mass in 1534 during which St. Ignatius and the thers tk their vws f pverty, chastity and bedience. Jesuit Fr. Antni Spadar, editr f La Civiltà Cattlica, wh cnducted the interview with Ppe Francis published in Jesuit peridicals in September, asked Francis abut his favrite Jesuits.The ppe began "by mentining Ignatius Lyla and Francis Xavier, but then fcuses n a figure that ther Jesuits certainly knw, but wh is f curse nt as well-knwn t the general public: Peter Faber (1506-46)," Spadar wrte. 4
St. Peter Faber is depicted serving Cmmunin in a 19th-century painting by Pietr Gagliardi. (CNS/Curtesy f Jesuit General Curia) Tday s Lusy Jbs Reprt and the Scurge f Inequality By Rbert Reich The U.S. ecnmy created a measly 74,000 new jbs in December, and a smaller percentage f wrking-age Americans is nw emplyed than at any time in the last three decades (befre wmen surged int the wrkfrce). What des this have t d with the fact that median husehld incmes cntinue t drp (adjusted fr inflatin) and that 95 percent f all the ecnmic gains since the recvery started have gne t the tp 1 percent? Plenty. Businesses wn t create new jbs withut enugh custmers. But mst Americans n lnger have enugh purchasing pwer t fuel that jb grwth. That s why it s s imprtant t (1) raise the minimum wage at least t its inflatinadjusted value 40 years ag which wuld be well ver $10 an hur, (2) extend unemplyment benefits t the jbless, (3) launch a majr jbs prgram t rebuild the natin s crumbling infrastructure, (4) expand Medicaid t the near-pr, (5) enable lwwage wrkers t uninize, (6) rehire all the teachers, scial wrkers, plice, and ther public service emplyees wh were laid ff in the recessin, (7) exempt the first $20,000 f incme frm Scial Security payrll taxes and make up the difference by remving the cap n incme subject t the tax. And because the rich spend a far smaller prprtin f their earnings than the middle class and pr, pay fr much f this by (8) clsing tax lphles that benefit the rich such as the carried interest tax benefit fr hedge-fund and private-equity managers, (9) raise the highest marginal tax rate, and (10) impse a small tax n all financial transactins. One f the majr plitical parties adamantly refuses t d any f this, and the ther desn t have the strength r backbne t make them. 5
Make a ruckus. This article was published at Natin f Change at: http://www.natinfchange.rg/tday-s-lusyjbs-reprt-and-scurge-inequality-1389454923. All rights are reserved. Be Attentive: As we mve int 2014 hw des Chris Lwney s article invite us t pnder ur human vcatin as business men and wmen? Hw des the stry f Peter Faber and his missin enliven ur wn vcatin and enliven ur missin in the wrld? Hw d yu see the elevatin f Peter Faber by Ppe Francis after reading the Lwney article? Be Intelligent: Given a pr jbs reprt in December and tday s (1/15/14) recrd breaking stck market surge, hw d yu assess the ecnmy and the state f the natin? Be Reasnable: Cmpare and cntrast the tw articles. Cnnect the dts between a man f the 1500 s and the authrs f these tw articles? Hw des ne be reasnable and raise a ruckus? Be Respnsible: What are the things yu will keep n the tp f yur mind as yu cntemplate ur scripture reading tday and the tw articles? What are the ways yu can deepen yur sense f yur wn vcatin as business persn r prfessinal? As yu deepen the cnnectins between yur faith and yur wrk are there any actins yu will take tday r this mnth t enact servant leadership r enhance yur stewardship? 6