Updated: April 28, 2026
What does the Church teach about building wealth?
We dive into nearly 2,000 years of Scripture, Church teaching, Encyclicals, and lives of the Saints to find out. What we might might surprise you – and it would certainly catch Dave Ramsey off guard.
Thank you to this episode’s sponsor: The Catholic Financial Planners Network. Find a great financial planner today at https://CatholicFinancialPlanners.com
Want to build a greater understanding of a Catholic approach to handling your money? Start your free trial of The Catholic Money Academy today at CatholicMoneyAcademy.com
Music in this episode is by Dylan Gardner – check out his album Almost Real on iTunes, Spotify, or wherever you listen to great music.
Money is not morally neutral in the way many people treat it.
Yes, money can be used for good. It can provide for your family, support your parish, fund education, help the poor, build a home, and give you more freedom to respond generously to God’s call.
But wealth is also spiritually dangerous.
That is not fear-mongering. That is the consistent witness of Scripture, the Catechism, the saints, and the Church.
In this episode of The Catholic Money Show, Jonathan and Amanda continue their series on how a Catholic approach to money differs from Dave Ramsey and other Protestant personal finance perspectives. This time, they focus on wealth building, and why Catholics need more than practical financial advice.
We need discernment, virtue and the sacraments.
And we need to take seriously the warnings Jesus gives us about money.
Wealth Is Not Evil, But It Is Dangerous
The Catholic Church does not teach that money is evil. Nor does she teach that every Catholic must live in material poverty.
But the Church does teach that wealth comes with serious spiritual responsibility.
That distinction matters.
There is a difference between receiving wealth as something entrusted to you by God and pursuing wealth as the goal of your life. There is a difference between using money as a tool for service and allowing money to become the measure of your security, success, or identity.
This is where a Catholic understanding of money becomes very different from much of modern personal finance advice.
In many financial spaces, wealth building is presented as an obvious good. The assumption is simple: more money means more freedom, more options, and a better life.
Catholic teaching asks a deeper question:
What is this doing to your soul?
Scripture Gives Serious Warnings About Wealth
Jesus does not speak casually about money.
He warns us that we cannot serve both God and mammon. He warns that the cares of the world and the delight in riches can choke the Word and make it unfruitful, and against storing up treasures on earth while neglecting treasures in heaven.
St. Paul also warns that those who desire to be rich fall into temptation and harmful desires. The issue is not merely having money. The issue is the disordered desire for riches, the trust placed in wealth, and the way money can quietly take God’s place in the human heart.
That is why Catholics cannot simply adopt a “build wealth at all costs” mentality.
Financial stability can be good. Providing for your family is good. Saving, investing, and planning for the future can be good and prudent.
But desiring wealth without limit is spiritually dangerous.
The Church Calls Us to Detachment
The Catechism teaches that true happiness is not found in riches, comfort, fame, power, or achievement, but in God alone.
That does not mean Catholics should reject all material goods. It means we must put them in their proper place.
Money is a tool.
God is the end.
When money becomes the end, our priorities become disordered.
The Catechism also warns against making profit the exclusive norm or ultimate purpose of economic activity. Any system or habit that reduces people to tools for profit is contrary to human dignity.
That includes the way we work, spend, invest, hire, buy, and build businesses.
A Catholic approach to money must always ask:
- Am I honoring human dignity?
- Am I practicing justice?
- Am I being generous with what has been entrusted to me?
- Am I using money to serve God and neighbor?
- Am I becoming more attached to comfort, control, or status?
These are not optional questions for Catholics. They are part of discipleship.
Wealth Requires Discernment
One of the major differences between Catholic financial formation and secular or Protestant personal finance advice is discernment.
Catholics do not begin with the assumption that everyone is called to the same financial path.
Some are called to marriage and family life. Others are called to religious life and vows of poverty while others may be entrusted with significant wealth or be called to a simpler life with fewer material resources.
The goal is not poverty for its own sake or wealth for its own sake.
The goal is God’s will.
That means financial decisions should be made through prayer, prudence, and discernment.
Budgeting, saving, investing, buying a home, giving, spending, and planning for retirement are not just financial activities. They are spiritual activities because they shape what we love, what we trust, and what we prioritize.
Budgeting Can Be a Practice of Virtue
A budget is not just a spreadsheet.
For Catholics, budgeting can become a practical way to live virtue.
It invites you to examine your desires, practice temperance, prioritize generosity, provide responsibly, and make decisions with intention instead of impulse.
A good budget asks:
- What has God entrusted to me?
- What responsibilities do I need to meet?
- Where am I being called to give?
- What is enough for my family in this season?
- Where am I tempted toward excess, fear, greed, or comparison?
This is why budgeting is not only for people who are struggling financially. It is for anyone who wants to handle money with wisdom, humility, and accountability.
The Sacraments Matter for Your Financial Life
Money can reveal sin.
It can reveal greed, fear, pride, envy, selfishness, comparison, resentment, and lack of trust in God.
That is why Catholics need the sacraments, not just better financial habits.
The Eucharist strengthens us. Confession restores us. Marriage gives spouses grace to pursue financial unity and holiness together. A regular examination of conscience can help us see where money has begun to rule our hearts.
If you are trying to grow in financial virtue, do not rely on willpower alone.
Go to confession.
Receive the Eucharist.
Pray with your budget.
Ask God where your heart is attached.
Money is a real part of your spiritual life, and it needs grace.
Learning About Money With the Mind of the Church
There is a lot of financial advice available today.
Some of it is practical and helpful. Some of it is incomplete or rooted in values that are not compatible with the Catholic faith.
Catholics need to learn how to filter financial advice through the mind of the Church.
That includes Scripture, the Catechism, Catholic social teaching, the saints, the sacraments, and wise Catholic community.
We do not need to panic every time we encounter a non-Catholic financial perspective. But we do need to test it.
Does this advice honor human dignity?
Does it encourage virtue?
Lead me toward generosity or selfishness?
Does it make wealth the goal?
Does it help me trust God more, or money more?
That kind of discernment is essential.
Catholic Wealth Building Is About Stewardship, Not Status
Catholic financial life is not about becoming rich.
It is about becoming faithful.
If God entrusts you with wealth, you are responsible for using it well. If God calls you to simplicity, you are responsible for receiving that call with trust. In either case, the point is not the amount of money you have.
The point is whether your money is ordered toward God.
Wealth can bless your family and the world when it is handled with virtue, generosity, and discernment. But when it becomes an idol, it can harm your soul.
That is the part Dave Ramsey and many other financial voices often miss.
Money is not just math.
Money is formation, discipleship and morally weighty.
And Catholics need to treat it that way.
Learn More Inside Catholic Money Academy
If you want to learn how to budget, get out of debt, save, invest, buy a home, and plan for the future through the lens of the Catholic faith, Catholic Money Academy was built for you.
Inside, Jonathan and Amanda help Catholics manage money in a way that supports their families, honors their faith, and keeps their hearts rightly ordered toward God.
If you want more Catholic guidance on budgeting, debt, saving, investing, and stewardship, explore more resources from WalletWin at walletwin.com or start your free trial inside Catholic Money Academy
