28th annual Mass brings together business professionals for a morning of prayer, fellowship at Sacred Heart Major Seminary
DETROIT — The Catholic business community of the Archdiocese of Detroit gathered together in the early morning Oct. 27 for the 28th annual Mass for Commerce at Sacred Heart Major Seminary.
The annual Mass is a celebration of stewardship, in which participants are encouraged to use the gifts God gave them to serve others.
Auxiliary Bishop Arturo Cepeda celebrated the Mass alongside Fr. Stephen Burr, Sacred Heart's rector, Fr. Gilbert Sunghera, SJ, and Msgr. Charles Kosanke. Choirs from both Loyola High School in Detroit and Regina High School in Warren provided music for the liturgy.
During his homily, Bishop Cepeda gave thanks for the gifts God has given to the Catholic business community and encouraged the businessmen and women in attendance to be disciples of Christ in all that they do.
In the day’s Gospel, Jesus tells the parable of the talents, in which the master entrusts his servants with bags of gold. In this parable, Bishop Cepeda explained, God is inviting the faithful to share His gifts with others.
“Jesus is preparing his disciples for what it means to be one with God and to understand that discipleship is really about sharing what we have received,” Bishop Cepeda said, adding God continues to ask this of each person today.
“Today we bring our gifts, our knowledge, intelligence, our wills, our faith; we bring our worries, we bring our doubts. We bring these gifts to be shared,” Bishop Cepeda said. “God wants us to enter into communion with Him. The best gift ever given to us is his son. He is present, and he will be given to us in body and blood.”
“We are not sad Catholics,” Bishop Cepeda continued. “We are joyful people of faith because we know our Lord. We are joyful because He is with us. We are joyful in sharing what we have — the gits that God has given us — so we can continue to build out the kingdom of heaven.”
Bishop Cepeda’s message resonated with community members present at the Mass and breakfast that followed. Pieter Winne, a business coach with EOS Worldwide, said he tries to put his faith into action with each of his clients.
“I minister by example and by bringing the love of Christ to business — maybe not overtly depending on who the client is, but what I will do before client sessions is pray for them so I can give them what they need in their life.”
Veronica North, who serves as Hispanic outreach coordinator for Catholic Funeral and Cemetery Services for the Archdiocese of Detroit, said it's important to realize that Catholics in the business world exist to serve everyone, not just fellow Catholics.
“As (the bishop) was saying during the Mass, you have to put your faith in everything you do," North said. “It doesn’t matter if you are at home or at work, or you are doing business or you are burying the dead; it’s who we are.”
Copy Permalink
