This article describes how
a small solution like the Catholic family business can be
a vital asset to three big beneficiaries like the Church,
the State and the economy.
Introduction
The Catholic family business is a small informal sectoral
phenomenon that has its origins in Philippine soil. The country, being
predominantly Catholic, family-oriented, and influenced by
the entrepreneural spirit of the immigrant Chinese, has
sustained in its soil, small businesses that are operated
by extended family systems. It is thus the purpose of
this article to show, that the successful operation of
a Catholic family business - even in its nascent informal
operations, can be very beneficial to
three big institutions such as the Church, the State, and the
economy.
Very Catholic
When the Catholic Church evangelizes, it often evangelizes
the Catholic family. The Catholic family is often that small
community which goes together to Mass every Sunday. And
when vocation arises in the heart of the youth, it is
often in the family where the young find the sources of love
that inspire them on to noble pursuits, such as a vocation
to the priesthood or religious life. Today, we know that the
family is immersed
in a global culture that espouses alternative lifestyles
that are not according to the teaching of the Catholic faith.
If however, the family strongly adheres to its Catholic
faith and obeys the teachings of the Church, then the
family becomes truly the domestic Church it is intended
to be: a small foundation for the growth and
development of the Church, and a resource pool of future vocations
for the priestly and religious life. When this family is
united in its common faith and practices honesty and
integrity in the transactions of their Catholic family
business, then this small family organization can benefit
greatly the Church: both in terms of personnel [through vocations
and through volunteering in parish work] and in terms of
financial donations or donations in kind to the parish.
Law-abiding citizens
When the family organizes itself into a Catholic
family business, this entails formality, systems, and
institutionalized ways of proceeding. It is because
of this context that the family is called to be
law-abiding citizens who engage in honest dealings
and who follow what the State imposes on all its
citizens. One very important obligation to the State
is taxes. Another very important obligation which
the family members also need to comply with, is the
election of a good leader for the State, who will
also have the responsibility to lead the economy.
And so, with the legal and formal procedures
the Catholic family business needs to comply
in order to operate its business within the
State, the members of the Catholic family business
are called to be good and responsible
citizens, who care for both the constituents of their
business, and also for the important laws of the
State.
Hardworking entrepreneurs
A Catholic family business is composed surely
of hardworking entrepreneurs - those who are committed
to work for the good of the family, and to better
the quality of life - both in the present, and for
the future of the children. If all of those
who start a Catholic family business, where to
truly be exemplary entrepreneurs who put all
their intelligence and talent to its fullest
potential and use, then their business services
would surely benefit
the economy of the State. Most of all, banks
and financial institutions who lend money and
extend credit, will benefit from the success
of the entrepreneurs who compose the Catholic family
business. It is usually the hard work of
members of these small business units that strengthen
the economy at its very base. And when someone,
maybe one in 1 million of these Catholic family
business units, will have the same destiny as
the retail magnate of the SM Group of Companies and
the success of the pharmaceutical leader of
United Laboratories, and grow their small business into
the multinational companies that these entrepreneurs
had done, then they will really make business boom and
support well the economy with their corporations.
A small solution to benefit three big institutions
The Catholic family business, even though it may
involve an extended family network, is really a small
solution and also a simple and informal one. However,
this small solution, if it were
to increase and magnify, will bring much honor and glory
to the institutions in which their business operate within.
This small phenomenon
in the Philippines has created big corporations
such as the SM Group of Companies and United Laboratories.
Many of these corporations were started simply in the
context of the family, which in the Philippine set-up
is strongly influenced by the Catholic Church, and
uses the strongly knit and extended family system
that Filipinos and Filipino-Chinese have followed
in their business organization. It is really
serendipitous to see how something as small as a
Catholic family business can benefit the Catholic
Church, the State and big business and the economy
all at the same time. But it really is
just rooted in that very small but very, very vital
element that undergirds everything: the family.
One Small Solution, Three Big Beneficiaries
