Hey everyone! Happy Tuesday. Welcome back to Saintly CEO.
Today, I’m doing things a little different. I’m going to write a bit of a reminder as to why we do what we do. Not only us at Catholic Founders, but all of you… Catholic Founders.
We have a real purpose, and I want to remind you all — and myself.
IN TODAY’S ISSUE
News/Events | Feature Content: Why We Are Here
[read time: ~10 min | word count 2,135]
Events:
Before we start, a few updates and key things to be aware of.
We’re hosting an exclusive men’s retreat in Chattanooga next month, focused on spiritual reflection and deep brotherhood with fellow Catholic business owners. Limited spots available.
ARCHIVE: A while back, we had a guy on who bought and sold 5 businesses (all turnarounds). This was his first ever podcast. Check out this episode with Chris Farls of Pittsburgh.
Two Catholic Meetups happening tonight: South Bend and Nashville. Register if you haven’t. And join one near you. Follow our calendar.
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Why Are We Here
Why is such a loaded word. Made even more so in some ways following Simon Sinek’s work on the topic.
Asking the question causes a bit of introspection, and regardless of what Marc Andreessen says, this is a good thing. Especially for people like us, who are almost always on the move doing something, we need to take a moment to recall WHY we’re here.
Who are ‘We’
To be clear, I’m referring to Catholic business owners as a whole, but specifically the people who consider themselves part of Catholic Founders.
A Civilization in Ruins
Look around you.
Society has collapsed to a point that would be unrecognizable to most men of just one or two hundred years ago. Go back a thousand years, and they’d be aghast at what they see.
You might not agree. Just look at our technology you’d say. Modern medicine, etc. Sure, but despite all our technology, we have lost touch with God, and as a result, we’ve lost touch with the invisible things of life.
Honor, glory, chivalry, charity, purity, reputation, magnanimity.
I’m not sure exactly why, perhaps it has to do with our refusal to believe in anything that we can’t explain with a microscope, but we have ceased to believe in all things that we can’t ‘see.’
You can’t see honor. Reputation doesn’t exactly paste well into a spreadsheet. There are no double blind studies about charity.
We have rejected all the ‘invisible’ things in favor of the tangible. No more wonder. No more uncertainty. We’ve got this — we don’t need God.
Our society has crumbled, we’ve gotten what we deserve, because we rejected God. We have been destroyed. Only this time, he didn’t use fire and brimstone, we did it to ourselves.
Here we find ourselves, standing, looking around, inhaling the dust from the ruins. Not ruins of bombs. Ruins of decay. A lack of care led to the decay of the city. Slow and steady, atrophy did her work.
What am I going to do about it?
Each of us must ask ourselves this question. And the place to start is actually prior to this. It’s why. Why am I here now? Why am I in this geography? Why do I have the skills I do? Why do I have the parents I do? Why was I born into this particular socio-economic status?
As Catholics, we all know the answer. God chose for you to be here right now, in these exact circumstances. Ruins and all.
He created your soul exactly at the moment of your conception, with total intention. God doesn’t do things by accident. He is THE Creator. This is what He does. He creates. He doesn’t accident.
He chose for you to be born into this time of history, to your parents, in your geography, with your family network (or lack of), your inheritance (or lack of), and even your interests and your skills. These last two are formed largely by the age of 5. The influences you have at that point are primarily a product of your genetics and your environment. Two things that I don’t think a 5 year old can really do anything to change.
Those skills and interests have led you into the life of a business owner / founder. Do you realize that?
Do you realize, that it’s not an accident He gave you such a strong tendency towards entrepreneurship. Oh, and let’s call entrepreneurship what it really is… Co-Creation using the things of this world.
While we do have agency, when you look at the situation like this, it’s very clear, in a lot of ways we had no choice; becoming a founder was Divinely ordained. God did this to us by nature of our birth, dispositions, etc.
So, what are you going to do with that information? Knowing that God ordained for you to be a co-creator alongside Him, what are you going to do with your life?
Are you going to build a business so you can stack cash, have some extra houses, and buy a yacht to live peacefully? — Or are you going to lean into the good that is being a co-creator?
One Right Choice
Like all things in life, there is only one right choice. God gives us a free will so that we have the opportunity to choose the good thing; His will. Life is that. A choice between our will and God’s will.
With a well formed conscience, each opportunity we have to make a choice is only one of choosing to do the right thing, or choosing not to do good.
Most of you have already made this conscious choice to do the right thing in your lives. But do you understand what it means to choose this? To choose the path of being a co-creator, a steward in God’s magnificent vineyard?
An Agent of Change
Here is where our agency comes into play. We can just do things. We can be a force for good in the world around us. When I say force for good, I should say a force for truth. That’s why we are Catholic and why we want the world to be Catholic; because we have the truth and we want to share it.
The point of your business isn’t to stack chips like you’re at the casino. It’s not to get famous and be idolized by the masses. It is for you to be great. Great so that you can glorify God through your good deeds. The praise of men constantly directed upwards to the only one deserving of praise.
Culture Changers
At the end of the day, there are a lot of people in need of truth. And the world is arguably bleaker than ever. If we want our great grandchildren (our grand children even) to inherit this eternal faith, we should be doing everything we can to rebuild, to correct the lies. We should be changing culture.
Earlier we asked the question why.
Changing culture is the answer.
As Catholics, we have a calling to live out our faith in a way that brings others to know God through our actions. As business owners, we possess influence. Our time, our company policies, how we spend our excess income, the products and services we offer. People generally have respect for business owners.
When you put several of us in a room together, we can go out and make some real change in the world. Show up at city hall with our friends and employees to oppose something. Fund the pro family politician. Commission beautiful art.
We can, and must do things to influence the culture towards God. This is our mission. This is why He called us to be entrepreneurs. We are here to be instruments of His will in the world.
Rebuilders
We can fix the ruins around us. We can rebuild them because we have God and Truth on our side. Family life can once again be possible for our employees based on how we treat them and the benefits we provide, not to mention paying a household wage. The priority of the spiritual life can rein once again through us encouraging and making possible a work life that integrates prayer and allows for daily mass.
Genuine communities can exist when we move our employees close to the office. Then we can deepen our connection with one another, help each other out, have regular barbecues. Hopefully our children can find spouses amongst that cohort as well.
We can make time to raise our boys into men by challenging them and doing things together. They don’t have to be punished for not being more feminine in their local public school where energetic boys are forced into conformity.
Honor and chivalry can once again become part of our lives. Building up a reputation for ourselves, and for our offspring that will help perpetuate the desire to live honorable lives.
The various pillars of society can be rebuilt. We have to be the ones who do it.
A Generational Project
No, they won’t be rebuilt in our lifetimes alone. These pillars are meant to be sturdy fixtures that endure from generation to generation, meaning the next gen will have to take up the tools and continue where we left off. And so will their offspring. Once rebuilt, they will need maintenance. These invisible pillars are in so many ways, the real things that keep society on track. And we are going to rebuild them.
It’s the reason why Catholic Founders as a project exists.
There are many good and honorable Catholic Founders in the world. Many of them don’t have the language to understand and contextualize why they are here. Many still think entrepreneurship is just the way they are called to provide for their family and that’s it. Nothing more.
This is wrong frankly. The forces of evil are out there, lurking and seeking to devour souls. We are the stewards in the vineyard. We must use the Master’s resources to care for and protect those around us — those who cannot help themselves.
Together, we will:
Start and grow our businesses. Through this, we’ll be answering the calling to be co-creators alongside God, and we’ll have the things needed to change culture around us: prestige and extra capital.
Learn the Theology of Entrepreneurship. In the same way that a person cannot love God until they know God, we cannot do Catholic entrepreneurship until we know how to. This is a key reason why we are content forward.
Grow in Unity. Doing things alone and isolated keeps us in risk of being sniped off by the evil one. When you’re isolated, it’s much easier to give into fear. Together however, we become greater than the sum of our parts. We become a wrecking ball to knock down the structures of evil, and rebuild structures of God.
Change the Culture. The first three things are all in service of this. We are here to transform the world around us.
It’s not an ego thing. God gave us this calling. Yes, it can be scary. Pride and greed are real temptations, but we know He will provide us the graces needed to stay humble and holy. He called us to be real galvanizers and builders in this particular moment of history, so have confidence. Trust as the Apostles did that the Spirit is in us. God walks with us. And that the devil cannot assail us so long as we stay in the wounds of our Lord.
There are many, many souls to be saved. We have the truth. Let’s go share it with them. Let’s change the culture.
God Bless & Happy Building
~Silas Mähner
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