Faithful Lines / Shirley Vogler Meister

Finding a faith-filled approach to finances

“Money problems have nothing to do with money” is a subtitle of a book that my visiting daughter, Donna, believes is important advice.

Coincidentally, that had also struck me as a crucial observation when reading Living a Blessed Life: Walking in Faith, Growing in Wealth.

In the years that I have written a column for The Criterion, seldom have I told readers that I wished I had been exposed to certain insights years ago. However, if I had been privy to what this book shares, my professional-financial life would have been different—and I would not have had to learn so much through “the school of hard knocks.”

Growing in wealth? Yes. Although this might seem counter to Catholic teachings, it is not. The Church today, with its mission, pastoral and educational services, could not exist without funding—and funding comes from us.

Oh, we’ve learned about stewardship. However, I must have missed the lessons necessary for earning a good living and being a good steward through loving and listening to God.

Listening? We cannot hear God unless we give ourselves time to listen. Only when our relationship with God is good can we move forward with the right spirit toward working for a living or when volunteering.

Blessed Teresa of Calcutta said, “We all must take the time to be silent and to contemplate, especially those who live in big cities … where everything moves so

fast. …”

Only then can we be open to God’s nudging us to try something new or to solve something old.

Lisa Horuczi Markus, author of Living a Blessed Life, makes silence and prayer criteria in her life, and she shares with readers exactly how she reaches her goals. She doesn’t tell us what investments to make, but she gives us a path to follow that makes such decisions clear.

The Christian author leads a well-rounded life with her husband and their two young children.

With a master’s degree in business administration from Michigan State University and her plan for success born through experience that includes failures, she is a financial education consultant, registered investment adviser representative and award-winning journalist.

She also founded and supports financial ministry, outreach and mentoring programs worldwide. What’s amazing is how she unselfishly shares with truth and clarity her walking in faith path toward financial success.

Although her book redefines what wealth is and how women can achieve it, men can also grow in blessings through it. For information, see www.blessedlife.biz.

The book says, “A blessed life is abundance regardless of income level … the path is from the inside out. …”

Even my daughter, Donna, who earned a bachelor’s degree in chemistry and a master’s degree in business administration from Purdue University, is eager to read it thoroughly.

(Shirley Vogler Meister, a member of Christ the King Parish in Indianapolis, is a regular columnist for The Criterion.) †