Catholic Founders #15 He Protected JP II, Now He Teaches Entrepreneurs How To Be The Leaven of Society | Andreas Widmer
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As AI eats the world, it’s more important than ever for Catholics to shape and lead the discussion and practices of this technology. Thankfully, we have just the person to discuss it.
Hey everyone! Silas here 👋
In Today’s Podcast:
* How we are called to be the leaven of society, especially as entrepreneurs
* Our unique path to God through our entrepreneurial journey
* Trusting in God’s will in entrepreneurship, not just ministry
* Core Takeaway: To fulfill our unique calling in life, we must lean into our entrepreneurial tendencies and fully trust in God
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About Today’s Guest:
Our guest today is Andreas Widmer. If you don’t know him already, I’m very pleased to introduce you to him.
Originating from Switzerland, he ended up getting into the Swiss Guard for aesthetic purposes. He could never have imagined what this would lead to.
Throughout his time in this role, he came to know Pope Saint John Paul II and had a profound deepening of faith.
He would go on to work in many types of businesses and is now one of the most influential Catholic business personalities in the US.
Not only does he teach at the Catholic University of America (founded by Pope Leo XIII), but he also co-founded the Bush School of Business there with Andrew Abela.
He’s the author of The Pope and the CEO, and most recently, The Art of Principled Entrepreneurship. He’s also an advisor to Magisterium AI and SENT Ventures.
On top of all this, he’s involved in social impact entrepreneurship in parts of East Africa, which is especially close to my heart, given that my wife is from there.
So when I call him ‘The King of Catholic Entrepreneurship,” I mean it.
* The Catholic University of America | The Art Ciocca Center
* The CEDE summer program for high school students
* Book: The Art of Principled Entrepreneurship
* Book: The Pope & The CEO
* Book: The Economics of the Parables
* Book: Recapturing the Spirit of Enterprise
* Engage Andreas for coaching (post-revenue companies)
Key Moments:
* 2:45 What Andreas Does Now
* 4:30 Becoming a Swiss Guard | How God used his natural interests to lead him deeper into the Faith
* 8:30 Discerning our journey | How leaning into our interests and non-evil desires is the way God guides us
* 14:05 Understanding that our journey with God is the only thing that matters. Everything else is an illusion. Yes, including financial success and public recognition.
* 18:45 How to know if we should change our business to align our business with the Faith.
* 21:05 Why most Catholics don’t start a business
* 23:00 The cycle of trusting in God over and over
* 25:50 How to be the leaven of society | Applying Catholic Social Teaching
* 31:05 What it means to bring the faith to work
* 35:35 Doing business in a way that is sanctifying. | Enterprise solutions for impact investing.
* 39:40 Starting a call center inside a jail
* 41:10 What America would look like if business owners acted like Christ | An economy that celebrates the human person
* 46:30 Working is how we imitate God
* 47:00 Where to reach Andreas
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Core Lesson:
Be the leaven of society. | Lean into your entrepreneurial tendencies to come closer to God.
This discussion had two things that hit me in the face.
First of all, the importance of us being the leaven in society. Something I knew already, but that is reinforced in this current moment in time with Leo XIV ascending to the chair. Andreas further drove this point home to me that this journey is not a straight line of ‘being the leaven’ we are constantly having to trust fall into God’s arms, and do it again.
This leads to the second point. That the way we come into a deeper relationship with God is through this constant loop, if you will. Hopefully, we grow each time. Through constantly embracing God and turning to Him, we can start to understand our unique calling in life.
This requires patience (something I’m pretty bad at). God has charted out the entire journey. Even when we make a mistake, God instantly corrects the symphony to continue to create something beautiful.
This was a really powerful validation our desire to build, to create, to achieve is not in conflict with our journey closer to God. This is something I’ve often felt — that there is a certain dissonance. But after this conversation, I no longer feel that way.
I know it’s okay to lean into my interests, into my skillset… through this I will learn who God wants me to become. Even though I don’t know the full picture yet, I put one foot in front of the other, knowing that God will lead me.
God Bless & Happy Building!
~Silas Mähner
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