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Heart of America

CATHOLIC BUSINESS NETWORK
Towards a More Free, Just & Virtuous Society

The Heart of America Catholic Business Network (CBN) is an independent, not-for-profit membership organization of Catholic business leaders and professionals who strive to advance, in both word and action, the teachings of Christ as expressed through the social teachings of the Catholic Church.

The CBN is a unique opportunity for its members to build a more free and just society while growing both personally and professionally. CBN acts as a catalyst in offering pragmatic opportunities to Catholics serving in the workplace.

Recommended Reading

The Vocation of the Business Leader

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“The 32-page document is designed as a vade-mecum, or practical handbook, for business leaders trying to integrate their faith with their work…Though the text has the council’s backing, it’s presented as a “reflection” by scholars and experts rather than a formal note or document.

…One distinct note is the text’s rather lofty conception of the business enterprise: “When businesses and market economies function properly and focus on serving the common good,” it says, “they contribute greatly to the material and even the spiritual well-being of society.”

…In effect, the document acknowledges that business doesn’t just fill bellies or line coffers; properly practiced, it also cultivates virtue.

Among other things, the document says that ethically responsible business is a “vehicle of cultural engagement” and a force for “peace and prosperity,” that it has “a special role to play in the unfolding of creation,” and that through creative work, people don’t just “make more” but “become more.”

…The document offers six practical principles for business, including solidarity with the poor “by being alert for opportunities to serve otherwise deprived and under served populations,” and “stewardship of resources, whether capital, human, or environmental.”

…Perhaps the most striking element of the text, however, comes in its appendix. There one finds a “Discernment Checklist for the Business Leader,” composed of thirty questions which amount to an examination of conscience informed by Catholic social teaching.

Some are fairly broad (yet still packing a punch), such as, “Have I been living a divided life, separating Gospel principles from my work?” and “Am I receiving the sacraments regularly and with attention to how they support and inform my business practices?””