“Jesus loves you. When he enters your world, the first thing he brings to you is the experience of His love. " These words were addressed to the entrepreneurs by Archbishop Grzegorz Ryś, the bishop of the Łódź metropolis, during the solemn Holy Mass. celebrated in front of the Miraculous Image of Our Lady of Licheń in connection with the Entrepreneur's Day. The Eucharist celebrated in the Lichen basilica was attended by representatives of the Polish government, MPs, representatives of the local government and entrepreneurs from various parts of Poland.
At the beginning of the Mass, Fr. Janusz Kumala, MIC, who welcomed the guests gathered in the Lichen basilica. The custodian priest recalled the words of St. John Paul II, who, 22 years ago, during a visit to the Licheń sanctuary, said about the basilica under construction that "in its architectural momentum it is an expression of faith and love for Jesus and Mary."
Fr. Kumala added that the temple is a visible sign of God in our hearts. - "We need such sanctuaries in which, as God's pilgrim people, we stop as a stopover to verify our path, the direction of our life, and above all, to strengthen ourselves in faith because without faith our Christian life has no sense."
For the world of Polish entrepreneurs, going to the world with Jesus means going into the world of economy, enterprises and business. You know best whether it is that simple - to enter with your Christian faith, with your love for Jesus, or whether it is that simple - into the world of business.
Archbishop Ryś recalled the difficult times of the nineteenth century, when there was a dynamic development of the modern economy, and thus - the meeting of the Church and the world of work, which was not without obstacles and difficulties. - We sense some resistance, difficulty in this meeting of the economy that was born, with the message of Jesus Christ.
Next, the metropolitan of Lodz wondered what the coming of Jesus into the world of entrepreneurs brings? In his opinion, the answer is contained in today's second reading (2 Corinthians), which begins with the words: "Christ's love urges us". Turning to the entrepreneurs, the hierarch said: Jesus loves you. When he enters your world, the first thing he brings to you is the experience of His love.
Referring to the biblical term love, Archbishop Ryś indicated that it is agape, that is, the kind of love that God gave us. - It is a love that enables us to do things that we, as humans, would not be able to do alone.
The homily emphasized that this love is a gift. - Hear that you are also gifted. Not only is the whole reality of your life work, work, work. You come to everything by your own effort, but before there is room for your effort there is something that comes before - a gift from Jesus called love - said Bishop Ryś.
The metropolitan of Lodz also referred to a sentence by Jan Duns Scotus that God is looking for fellow-lovers, that is, those who will love with Him. - Christianity knows no vocation other than love. Everything else is only a form, but the vocation of man, as understood by Christianity, is only one - it is the vocation to love. And so much so that he wants to love others with God with his love that I receive.
The homily also mentioned Gospel parables that can be directly addressed by entrepreneurs. The first was the parable of the talents, in which we see the praise of entrepreneurship because you only have good that you multiply. - Jesus' teaching shows that not everything can be reduced to numbers or sums. I think the most interesting of the parables about entrepreneurship is the one about the workers of the vineyard. The homily emphasized that the good of man is work itself - This parable shows that entrepreneurship cannot be reduced to the simple rules of the free market. There is something else as well. It is about people, because work is ultimately always about people. It is also about this man who is an entrepreneur. These are powerful parables about people who have made a successful business in life. Then, when business is successful, when entrepreneurship is realized in great financial results, does Jesus say whether your humanity grows to the same extent? Does what in life we define with humanistic values multiply in us like our possessions? Archbishop Ryś asked.
During the Holy Mass in the Licheń basilica of Of the Blessed Virgin Mary of Licheń was attended by: Minister Zdzisław Sokal, advisor to the President of the Republic of Poland; afterword: Ewa Szymańska, Bartłomiej Wróblewski, Katarzyna Sójka, Zbigniew Dolata; and also: Michał Zieliński, the voivode of Greater Poland, Maciej Sytek, president of the Regional Development Agency (on behalf of the Marshal of the Greater Poland Voivodeship), Władysław Kocaj, deputy starost of the Konin poviat, Mariusz Zaborowski, mayor of Ślesin and Fr. Dr. Rafał Ostrowski, the chaplain of the Talent ministry in Poznań, active among entrepreneurs.
The Entrepreneur's Day was established by the Sejm of the Republic of Poland by a resolution of June 9, 2016. The initiator of the introduction of this holiday was Józef Bereżewski from the Polish Chamber of Commerce, and the promoter of the resolution in the Sejm was, inter alia, Mr. Adam Abramowicz, then MP, and now spokesman for small and medium-sized enterprises.
Holy Mass graced by the performance of the Choir of the Lichen Basilica Stabat Mater. Liturgical vessels (chalice and paten), which were used during today's Eucharist, were donated to the Licheń sanctuary by the late Maria and Lech Kaczyński on the occasion of the beatification of Father Stanisław Papczyński, founder of the Congregation of Marian Fathers.
