God gave us all gifts. These gifts come in different quantities, qualities, skills and variety. Some of us can sing, others can organise things well, some of us can work hard, some of us have an eye for fashion and design and some of us are very patient.

Why is it important to recognise these gifts? These gifts represent the way many of us can and should contribute to a productive society. We must do so creatively. It is not good enough to simply say this is our gift. We must recognise them, accept them and determine how we can best use them to the benefit of society. It is not good enough to do the bare minimum with them. We all remember the story of the talents. 

In addition to recognising the importance of using our God-given talents for economic initiative, the Church recognises and defends our right to use these gifts in the way that we see best.  “The Church’s social doctrine considers the freedom of the person in economic matters a fundamental value and an inalienable right to be promoted and defended.

“Everyone has the right to economic initiative; everyone should make legitimate use of his talents to contribute to the abundance that will benefit all, and to harvest the just fruits of his labour.

This teaching warns against the negative consequences that would arise from weakening or denying the right of economic initiative: “Experience shows us that the denial of this right, or its limitation in the name of an alleged ‘equality’ of everyone in society, diminishes, or in practice absolutely destroys the spirit of initiative, that is to say the creative subjectivity of the citizen.” 

From this perspective, free and responsible initiative in the economic sphere can also be defined as an act that reveals the humanity of men and women as creative and relational subjects.  Such initiative, then, should be given ample leeway.  The State has the moral obligation to enforce strict limitations only in cases of incompatibility between the pursuit of common good and the type of economic activity proposed or the way it is undertaken.”

This excerpt from the Compendium highlights the importance of having initiative and being creative. Many times however, these values are not sufficiently encouraged. Starting with the home, there are many instances when parents unintentionally discourage initiative in children.

Many time children have very creative ideas, but parents often find to allow their children to pursue these ideas requires too much effort on their part. In the workplace, many bosses do not want to be challenged by ideas that employees put forward; sometimes they feel threatened or they simply feel comfortable continuing to do things the way they were always done.  However, we need to recognise that creativity is essential and necessary for improvements to take place and to ensure progress.

“The creative dimension is an essential component of human activity, even in the area of business, and it is especially manifested in the areas of planning and innovation. 

“Organising such a productive effort, planning its duration in time, making sure that it corresponds in a positive way to the demands which it must satisfy, and taking the necessary risks – all this too is a source of wealth in today’s society. 

In this way, the role of disciplined and creative human work and, as an essential part of that work, initiative and entrepreneurial ability becomes increasingly evident and decisive.”

At the basis of this teaching we can see the belief that “man’s principal resource is man himself. His intelligence enables him to discover the earth’s productive potential and the many different ways in which needs can be satisfied.”

Next week we will discuss Business and its goals.