GREENVILLE – Approximately 60 business people from around the Diocese of Wilmington gathered at St. Joseph on the Brandywine Parish in Greenville on June 4 for the inaugural meeting of the Catholic Business Network.
An initiative of the diocese, the network is envisioned as a way to bring local Catholics together in a business networking environment.
Four more events are planned over the next year – two in New Castle County, one on the Eastern Shore and one on the Lower Shore. The speakers will address a variety of topics.
Sheila McGirl, the diocesan director of development and one of the people spearheading this initiative, introduced Bishop Koenig, the keynote speaker, describing his characteristics as the leader of the diocese.
“He encourages all of us to approach our work not just as a job, but as a vocation,” McGirl said, “and as an opportunity to serve God and to serve one another.”
Bishop Koenig addressed the role of being a business leader as a vocation and what that means.
“Being a business leader is a vocation. It is a calling from God that is given to you. It is a calling that has come through the gifts that you have been given,” the bishop said.
“Being a business leader is not just managing numbers, hitting targets or expanding markets,” he continued. “It’s about shaping lives. It’s a role that’s filled with moral weight, opportunity and responsibility.”
The late Pope Francis, Bishop Koenig said, called business a noble vocation provided that those involved in it see themselves as part of something greater.
The bishop used the parable of the pearl from Matthew’s gospel to illustrate the ways that Catholic business leaders can live according to Catholic social teaching and the words of Christ. In the parable, a merchant is searching for valuable pearls when he comes across one that has great value and a desirable price. He sells all he has to purchase the pearl.
When looking for that pearl, how does the merchant remain focused on “the main thing,” Bishop Koenig said, when so many others walked right by? He did so by seeing, judging and acting.
The first lesson is remaining focused on what’s important, the bishop said. Too often, religion becomes one part of a person’s life and business another, “and never the twain shall meet.
“And you know, it’s so easy to fall into this. After all, in a church the presence of God is signs and sacraments everywhere, whereas in the secular world, not only are there very few religious signs of God, the values are also the very opposite of godly values.”
That’s why it’s important to stay close to the sacraments, he said. Also, the Holy Spirit can enable us to live throughout the week the values we hear on Sunday.
The second lesson is to determine what is of value and what is not. As a pastor, Bishop Koenig used to find items left behind in pews after Mass on Sunday, and he often couldn’t tell which ones were the most valuable. A jeweler was able to help him make that determination.
Business leaders can find similar guidance through Catholic social teaching, he said. Pope Leo XIII issued the first encyclical on the topic in 1891.
“When it comes to being a businessperson, our social teaching tells us that there are certain properties – or principles – by which we are to be guided, by which we know that this is truly the good life to live,” Bishop Koenig said.
To act is the final lesson. The merchant in the parable saw the pearl, judged its value and acted.
“It’s not enough to see a problem and judge what’s right,” he said. “You must take concrete steps to respond, in other words, to act. Sometimes, these actions may seem small. Other times, they require bold, systemic change.”
Leadership is not just about having good intentions. It’s about making good decisions and following through, he continued.
Business leaders are called to see people, the environment, the long-term consequences of choices, “to look beyond surface-level success,” Bishop Koenig said.
Among those in attendance was George Rotsch, the publisher and vice president of Delaware Live, an online news outlet. A member of St. Ann Parish in Wilmington, he said he was pleasantly surprised by the size of the crowd at St. Joe’s on the Brandywine.
“I met four or five people from my own church, four or five people with business relationships I can talk to,” he said.
Rotsch said the bishop’s message was “on the mark. He helped us understand a little bit about what good business people must focus on. It’s not just dollars and cents. It the role in the community that we all play. If we play the right role in the community, the dollars and cents will work out.”
Kimberley Riccio, a parishioner at Holy Rosary in Claymont, was eager to connect with other business people. She works at Delaware Veterans Post No. 1 in north Wilmington and hopes to expand the services available to veterans from Catholic parishes.
Riccio said she believed it would be a great opportunity to meet others with similar intentions.
