Updated: September 22, 2026
What does the Catholic Church actually teach about money?
For many Catholics, that question is surprisingly difficult to answer. We hear plenty about generosity, tithing, avoiding greed, and caring for the poor. But what about earning money, getting out of debt, saving, investing, building wealth, planning for the future, and using financial resources to support our vocation?
In this conversation on Integrated Wholeness for Body, Mind, and Soul, Amanda Teixeira joins host Angela Schnieders to explore what Catholic financial stewardship looks like in real life.
The conversation goes beyond simply asking, “How much should I give?” and instead looks at the bigger question: What has God entrusted to me, and how am I called to steward it?
Money Is a Tool for Our Vocation
Amanda shares part of the story behind WalletWin and how she and Jonathan approached their finances early in their marriage.
Within their first year of marriage, they paid off $25,000 of debt in seven and a half months while living on a missionary salary. At the time, they didn’t fully understand why they were moving so quickly toward financial stability. Looking back, Amanda sees how that freedom gave them greater capacity to respond to the vocation God was unfolding for them.
That leads to an important Catholic perspective on money: our financial resources are meant to serve our vocation.
Money provides for our basic needs. It supports our families. It can allow us to respond generously to the needs of others. It can create opportunities to serve our parish and community. And when handled wisely, it can give us greater freedom to say yes when God asks something of us.
The goal isn’t simply to accumulate more money. It’s to become better stewards of whatever God has entrusted to us.
Financial Freedom for What?
The phrase financial freedom is everywhere. But what are we actually hoping to be free for?
Amanda and Angela discuss how financial freedom is often presented as the ability to stop working, sit on a beach, and do whatever you want. There’s nothing inherently wrong with enjoying rest or leisure, but Catholic financial stewardship asks a deeper question: What is the purpose of the freedom we are pursuing?
Financial freedom can create room for greater generosity, service, family life, parish involvement, entrepreneurship, or other forms of vocation.
As Amanda explains, when resources are available, they can enhance our ability to live out our responsibilities and contribute to the common good.
That changes the way we think about wealth.
Can You Be Wealthy and Still Be Detached?
One of the most interesting questions in the conversation is whether someone can have significant financial resources while still practicing detachment.
The answer discussed in the episode is yes—but it requires intentionality.
Catholic teaching does not reduce financial stewardship to a particular income level. Instead, we have to consider our circumstances, responsibilities, vocation, and the disposition of our hearts.
Amanda describes this as learning to hold resources with an open hand: receiving what God gives, stewarding it well, and remaining willing to surrender it if He asks something different of us.
That also means wealth itself isn’t the measure of virtue.
Someone can have considerable resources and be generous, humble, and detached. Someone with very little can still struggle with an unhealthy attachment to money.
The question is ultimately about what is happening in our hearts and how we are using what we’ve been given.
Debt Can Limit Our Freedom
Debt is another major theme of the conversation.
Amanda explains that she and Jonathan became passionate about helping people get out of debt partly because they had seen how financial obligations could interfere with people’s ability to respond to their vocations.
She describes friends who struggled to remain on missionary staff because of student loans and others whose financial obligations affected their ability to consider religious vocations.
That doesn’t mean every debt situation is identical. But excessive debt can create real limitations.
It can consume income that could otherwise support a family, generosity, savings, or other responsibilities. It can also create significant emotional and spiritual burdens.
Amanda’s encouragement to people struggling with debt is simple: your debt does not define you, and your situation is not hopeless.
Practical stewardship still matters. Create the budget. Make the plan. Pay what you can prudently pay. Keep moving forward.
And leave room for God to work in ways you cannot anticipate.
Trusting God’s Providence Doesn’t Mean Avoiding Planning
One of the strongest themes throughout the conversation is the Catholic both/and.
We trust in God’s providence.
And we practice prudence.
We can believe that God will provide while also saving for the future, purchasing appropriate insurance, investing responsibly, and preparing for seasons when our income may change.
Amanda points to Joseph’s preparation for the years of famine as an example of prudent preparation. He didn’t simply assume that God would provide food at the last possible moment. He planned ahead and stored resources during years of abundance.
The same principle can apply to our finances.
Building an emergency fund or preparing for retirement doesn’t necessarily mean we don’t trust God. It can be an expression of prudence and responsible stewardship.
And if we eventually have more than we need, those resources can create new opportunities for generosity.
Wealth Can Serve the Common Good
The conversation also challenges the assumption that building wealth is inherently selfish.
Amanda talks about the role entrepreneurs and business owners can play in creating jobs and contributing to their communities. Building a successful business can carry significant responsibilities—not only toward the owner’s family, but also toward employees, customers, and the broader community.
Throughout history, wealth has also been used to establish and support hospitals, schools, apostolates, and other institutions.
The Catholic question isn’t simply, “How much wealth can I accumulate?”
It’s also:
“What is God asking me to do with what He has entrusted to me?”
For some people, that may involve building a business. For others, it may mean supporting their family, giving generously, creating employment, funding apostolates, or simply becoming more financially stable so they can serve their vocation faithfully.
Discernment matters because the same financial decision can look very different depending on the person, their responsibilities, and their calling.
Financial Formation Is Part of Discipleship
Another major point in the conversation is the lack of financial education available to many Catholics.
Amanda describes financial stewardship as a skill—one that requires formation, practice, and accompaniment.
That formation can begin early.
WalletWin works with children, teens, young adults, couples, parishes, dioceses, and individuals because financial stewardship affects nearly every area of life.
Amanda also discusses the importance of financial formation in marriage preparation. Learning how to communicate about money and develop financial unity can help couples establish a healthier foundation before they begin combining their finances.
Money isn’t separate from discipleship.
How we earn, spend, save, give, invest, borrow, and plan all reveal something about how we understand responsibility, generosity, trust, and our vocation.
Don’t Put Off Estate Planning
Near the end of the conversation, Amanda and Angela turn to another area of financial stewardship that many people avoid: estate planning.
They discuss practical documents and preparations including:
- Wills
- Trusts
- Guardianship for children
- Powers of attorney
- Healthcare directives
- Beneficiary designations
- Organizing important financial information
These aren’t particularly exciting tasks. In fact, Amanda jokes that they’re about as exciting as watching paint dry.
But they’re also an act of love toward the people who would have to deal with these decisions if something happened to us.
Planning ahead can help reduce confusion and unnecessary burdens for our spouses, children, and other loved ones.
Financial Freedom for God’s Will
The conversation ultimately comes back to freedom.
Not simply freedom from debt.
Not simply freedom to retire.
Not simply freedom to spend more.
Freedom to respond to God.
When we approach money as something entrusted to us rather than something we must cling to, financial decisions can take on a different meaning.
Paying off debt can create room to respond to a vocation.
Saving can allow us to prepare responsibly for the future.
Building wealth can create opportunities to provide for others and contribute to the common good.
Giving can remind us that what we have is ultimately a gift.
And planning our affairs can become an act of charity toward the people we love.
As Amanda puts it, the goal is to become good stewards of whatever God gives us while remaining open to what He may ask of us next.
Resources Mentioned
Catholic Money Academy — Catholic financial education: https://walletwin.com/academy
Support for your journey of faith, leadership, and personal growth with Angela Schnieders https://www.viriditasliving.com/
