🇻🇦🤝 Saintly CEO: What St. Peter & Walking on Water Teaches Us About Faith
Risk... or Faith? Consistently Practicing Faith. Magnanimity. What we can learn from Peter walking on the water... then sinking... then calling out to Jesus.
Happy Tuesday! Hopefully you’re reading this first thing to get a little closer to heaven before the day attempts to kick your teeth in.
Welcome back to Saintly CEO: the Tuesday morning newsletter for business owners whose first objective is to become a saint.
IN TODAY’S ISSUE
News/Updates/Events
Feature Content:
Heavenly Hustlers
Highlights
[read time: ~8 min | word count 1, 879]
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News / Updates / Events:
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🤳🏻Guild Members, we’ll have an exclusive topic call later at 6PM CT via Google Meet with the CEO of Tridfi banking. Discover How TridFi Invests in Local Communities by Taking on Banks. Email us if you didn’t get the link.
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Don’t Waste Your Parish’s Money
A mismanaged budget is a headache in business. In the Church, it’s a tragedy. Every dollar wasted on a poorly run construction project is a dollar taken from the mission.
When your parish or diocese is building something, goodwill isn’t enough. You need professional, unyielding stewardship.
Our Father Constructors and Associates acts as your expert owner’s representative. They support projects from $1M to $45M. Cristian and his team manage the architects, protect the capital, and find the money you didn’t know you were losing. They ensure what you build today serves the Church for generations.
Run your parish’s next project like a pro.
👉 Visit ourfather.us or email cristian@ourfather.us today.
Faith to Start and Faith to Continue
On Sunday we heard the story of Peter walking on the water. An unforgettable short story of a man with faith.
Then we get to see what happens when that faith wavers. When his attention is drawn to the world around him and his faith falters.
And then again, how dramatically it changes course when he returns his focus to Jesus, in whom he has faith. “Jesus immediately reached out his hand and caught him.” [Matt. 14:31]
In a split second, He’s there helping Peter.
There’s a lot we can take from this story as Catholic entrepreneurs. Let’s look at three that come to my mind.
Faith versus Risk Taking
A secular person who does not believe in Jesus would see what Peter did as a risk. He took a risk by stepping out.
As Christians, we only see faith. Peter has his gaze firmly fixed on Jesus. He is thoroughly convinced of his power.
When this is the case, stepping out into the water isn’t a risk because he’s not even thinking about that. He’s locked in on Jesus. His gaze is fixed directly on Jesus. He has faith in Jesus.
Only when his focus goes off of Jesus does he begin to sink. In several versions of the translation, the scripture says Peter ‘saw’ the wind. Indicating his eyes went elsewhere.
I’m bringing this up because I think we can apply a lot of this to our own lives as business owners. When you started your business, I’m guessing many of you were locked in on Jesus. Eye to eye. You stepped out on the journey of entrepreneurship with total faith. In my case, I had faith that it would work out. Not that my company would succeed. But that even if it failed, it would be God taking care of me and directing me. In some ways it was easier then, because I hadn’t built it. I had no reputation yet.
Can we bring this into our business beyond just starting? Can we start to see things not as risk-taking, but rather as an act of faith?
Continuous Faith
Notice how one act of faith wasn’t sufficient to keep Peter on the water. It had to be constant (take that protestants 😉). He popped in and out of faith in this short span of time.
As I mentioned before, it’s not enough to have faith when you start the business. You must keep that faith as you go on. In tough times (like I am), He will provide. In good times, He might be calling you to something bigger. To take another risk. At the bare minimum, to stay focused on Him and give glory to Him for what He’s blessed you with.
Don’t just have faith at the outset. Have faith constantly!
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Magnanimity
When you reflect on the timing of the story. Faith once is enough to get you started, but faith throughout keeps you going. It keeps you taking more ‘risks’ as you go.
Above we discussed that risks aren’t really a risk at all, so long as our gaze is fixed on Jesus. So why do we slow down when our business starts to do well? When it gets to a place where it’s clearly working?
Are we not being complacent or lazy?
When you look at growing to the next level — of going from $500k to $5m — do you see it as a big risk? If so, perhaps your gaze is not where it ought to be.
Truthfully, magnanimity demands that we continue growing.
For those unaware, magnanimity is a virtue by which we become fully who we are called to be. Regardless of who you are and what your unique calling is, I can guarantee that you’re called to some form of greatness.
Magnanimity applies to all aspects of your life. In the spiritual life, it can be hard to quantify because it’s not ‘visible’ — but in the business world, it’s nearly impossible to ignore.
Most things are measurable, especially revenue and profit.
So if your business is at $500k a year in revenue or $1m, what is stopping you from growing it further to $5m? I ask you once again… are you being magnanimous? Or are you giving in to pusillanimity? (Yes, I know this word is impossible to pronounce. You can just say it how you think it should be said. No one will judge you. Unless you say it out loud, of course).
Pusillanimity is the opposite of Magnanimity. Small-mindedness. Often pride masked as false humility.
Ultimately, what I’m saying is, true faith will lead to becoming magnanimous.
If your gaze is firmly fixed on Jesus, you won’t even realize where He’s led you. To walk on the water, to climb the tallest mountain, to slay the enemies in battle — all that you’ll see is Him because you’re focused where you ought to be.
Is Your Money Being Stewarded — or Just Managed?
Most financial advisors will ask what you want your money to do. Tom Rooney and Matthew Mohlman at Monument Advisers start somewhere different — they ask what God is calling you to build. They work with Catholic business owners to bring real stewardship to their finances: investment plans built around your values, guidance on whether a business retirement plan makes sense, and access to private market opportunities most advisors never bring up.
Tom and Matthew want to extend an invitation for an estate health check with their team. It’s kind of like an annual physical, but in this case there’s no cold hands or awkwardness in the waiting room! This check is an easy way to uncover gaps in your overall financial picture and then take action to establish foundational estate documents that address those you care for.
PS: Tom and Matthew aren’t just advisors — they’re Catholic founders themselves, building this alongside guys like us. That’s exactly why we trust them with this conversation.
As you finish this read and go back into the world to face it while you lead your business — keep that idea front and center. How can I have a faith that is constant? How can I keep my eyes firmly fixed on God?
Start by asking for the grace to have such a faith.
Then put in place all the pillars necessary to remind yourself of the faith you seek frequently throughout the day.
Start by adding the Angelus Bells to your Chrome browser. You’ll never have an excuse to miss the Angelus again.
Create an accountability group for getting up early and praying every morning (we can probably arrange this through the Guild for you).
When networking locally, suggest going to Mass and then getting coffee. If they are not Catholic, at least offer the coffee part, but schedule it right after Mass.
Finally, avail yourself of the sacraments. God is there with His hand out, waiting for you to take it. Ready to snatch you from the danger as soon as you cry out — just like Peter did.
God Bless & Happy Building
~Silas Mähner
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Heavenly Hustlers
These are other Catholic business owners. Nominate one (including yourself).
👨🏻💻🤝Jeremy Foxx is based in St. Augustine, Florida. He is the founder of Foxxception where he provides consulting services for business, marketing, and product strategy, specializing in full stack web development and marketing strategy.
🤔🔉Joseph Valentic is the man behind The Catholic Curator. He is based in Detroit, Michigan. The man leads a Fractional Executive Services and the Heroic Catholic Man platform, merging professional business strategy with spiritual direction for Catholic leaders.
🕵🏻♂️🪧Will Deatherage leads Catholics For Hire, a Rockville, Maryland-based agency serving as a one-stop shop for marketing, design, fundraising, and educational resource development projects.
🧐💻Josh Longbrake is a the founder of Studio Brainchild from Tulsa, Oklahoma. He builds custom software solutions for start-ups and small business from concept to launch.
👴🏻🧓🏻Alexander J. Hoffarth is the founder of Aquilux Partners based in Washington, D.C., a buy-and-hold firm focusing on stewardship and modernizing small businesses to navigate the massive rise of retiring baby boomers.
🔢📈Steve Cyboran is an actuary and founder of Humaculture He is based in Houston. His firm cultivates organizations to nurture and grow people to thrive through data-driven and culture-aligned solutions.
🙋♂️ Nominate a Heavenly Hustler (including yourself) - It takes 1 min.
Thank you to Catholic Owned for helping us find some of these folks each week. Get listed today!
Here is a huge list of various resources that we have compiled over time: The Ultimate Catholic Founders Resource Guide.
Feel free to bookmark it as we’ll continue to update it. And if you have suggestions on what to add, ping us (even if you want to promote your own stuff).