Mother Teresa: You have nothing to give back to the world.
Tags: Vocation, Faith And Work, Entrepreneurship, New Evangelization, Catholic

A reflection of a Catholic worker.

We’ve written a bit about the impact of capitalism and individualism in Christianity. Today, we want to talk about a false sense of ownership and success in the marketplace.

Given from above

We recently talked to To God Go foundation based in Montreal, whose deceased founder was longing to accomplish workspace evangelization of some sort as well. Interestingly, the founder was a good business person who tried to enter a religious community and consulted with Mother Teresa about his intention to give back his wealth. Mother Teresa answered him back, rephrased:

You have nothing you can give back, for you have nothing in the first place. Everything you have is a loan. And you must multiply that loan so you can help more people.

Doesn’t this ring a bell? Probably you recall the parable of 3 servants, but I think there is one more that is always forgotten in our society.

“You would have no authority over Me, unless it had been given you from above; for this reason he who delivered Me to you has the greater sin.” — John 19

As entrepreneurs, professionals, and business leaders, we tend to forget we are called only for 3 big tasks: Love God, Love Others, Live. I am to blame if you don’t like the third one there, but we are not called to starve ourselves to death, so I think we need to stay alive by doing work as a living being.

We are never called to accumulate wealth, being famous, attain some status or recognition. It is often mandatory for the sake of love that the Lord permits some folks to be given more wealth than others. Think about if the British royals never existed in the first place, no government was formed, and murders were still around. Would you live in such a place? Or would it be okay for Prince William and Harry to enjoy some royal wealth in return for their abdication toward the society using an existing hierarchy built to love their society for a long time? Let’s not talk about the bad king, but let’s look at it today.

Our society has often shifted the call of love from Christ to a call of success and prosperity.

Ego of Ownership

One time, I had a conversation with the Pontifical Council of Culture in the Vatican. I was telling them 4 different projects I had for the Church, one of which was an electronic rosary. I gathered a couple of folks who wanted to make it, and the monsignor in the Vatican did not say much other than recommending us to target the bishop rather than collaborating with them. In 2019, I heard the very department helped publish a similar electronic rosary we talked about.

Upon hearing the large announcement on CNN, I was hurt for being left behind, not wanted, and even wondering if they stole my idea.

Then, I took a step back, reminding myself that I want good for the Church, not to show off or anything. I should be happy with what they’ve done.

In this COVID-19 year, our prayers, contemplations, and work around an entrepreneurial ecosystem in the Catholic world to support workspace evangelization has also been challenged. While we were getting ready for 2 years to make a virtual incubator, the COVID came and sprouted an immense demand for virtual entrepreneurship. This called large Catholic universities to step up and offer Catholic entrepreneurial accelerators. While we think it is already too late in the race to act right now for evangelization, reflecting what had happened actually gave us a different perspective.

Divine Agenda

We prayed for years to ask God’s providence and will to use us to be his agent of preparing the Church for a better entrepreneurial ecosystem, knowing that around 2021–2025, there would be a massive migration from professionals toward entrepreneurship. We learned a lot, and we got hurt a lot, tried different stuff, and found what we need to do.

I remember around late last year, the Lord spoke in prayer, that in about 3 months, there would be something big coming. I thought Trump would go to war with NK, or there would be a massive natural disaster or our incubator plan would be taken to the Vatican, or our other strategic move will be successful.

When we were about to start our next phase, suddenly, COVID woke everyone up to prepare all the necessary roads for those called to join our movement to get more support. From entrepreneurial prayer group, we piloted in 2017, now organization like SENT is providing the same thing. Incubation services are now provided by SCU, Notre Dame, Catholic University, and many others.

It made me wonder, what’s the point of preparing all these if the Lord was apparently impatient Himself that he would wake everyone up through market demands.

I was laughed at and looked down on by many Catholic business leaders and those in the Church as crazy and useless people. I remembered in 2018, a philanthropist from the Philippines told me, go back to regular work and forget about this.

But the difference is, as a faithpreneur, I learned that everyone is called to 3 things, love God, love others, and live. Those who try to pray for a special vocation are confused, for it is often not rooted in God’s commandment. It is rooted in changing others or self-pride.

I realized I initially did everything out of frustration with a bigger Church that has failed to love neighbors.

I now find it ridiculous to change their bishops and leader’s mind for a mere “vision” that comes from the idealism I want to reach. If I were still like last year, I would get annoyed by God, for all that I tried to do was in vain in the eyes of success.

No, no, no… It ain’t happening this time.

I feel peaceful now, knowing what we are building is taken by our Lord Himself to take action.

How better that be, if your divine vision is taken into Heaven and our King acted on it Himself?

Like what St. Paul suggested, we are simply a useless servant who is trying to do His will. We have nothing in the first place. Our ideas have been granted by Him, not ours. Would others think well of us now? No. No one cares. Only God cares. And we know for sure He cares, for otherwise, all Catholic institutions would still be in slumber until at least 2022.

We also learned a holy entrepreneurial mindset that can bring others to Christ, which is to go through new things to find ways to love God and others and earn the hurt it brings and deal with it in a holy way. That is the cross of a faithpreneur.

Our calling is not to be successful but to try to make love happen and set an example of how to live a holy life along the way rooted in divine providence and the love of God.

For you are the only one who knows how to deal with this new way before it attracts others. Without a good attitude, holiness, understanding, and loving reactions, we are just calling God’s sheep to the dark valley, where many will lose their soul.

We learned to be grateful that our lives, writings, and efforts, were used and read by fellow Catholic leaders who are now making a move. We are glad, like John the Baptist, we could help prepare the way. The market-based Catholic moves are not prepared to find the perfection of a soul from its operation. Rather, it comes from the solitude that would never attract the public. This is what we care about. We know from now on, we could get the Church support to focus on our real mission, to bring Christ to workers through Catholic founders. For this, we give glory to God, forever and ever.