Why God Builds Through Small Beginnings

Growing up, my parents would show my sister and me films about saints.

Not cartoons.
Full-length movies.

Stories about people like Saint Philip Neri , Padre Pio and Saint Cupertino (links to the full films).

At the time, we weren’t entirely inspired and thought Hollywood movies were better.

Most of these films were about suffering.
And to a child, the suffering felt unbearable.

But over time, something changed.

Suffering Never Leaves But Meaning Can Appear

What I eventually realized is simple, but uncomfortable:

Suffering doesn’t disappear as you grow up.
It just changes shape.

The saints didn’t avoid it.
They accepted it.

And strangely, in almost every story, alongside the suffering, there was also beauty a quiet kind of beauty. The kind rooted in love, service, and simplicity.

They ate well.
They had a bed.
They lived with peace.
They probably had better Vitamin D than the average New Yorker.

Even in crisis, they lived good lives.

That balance and simplicity always stayed with me.

The Saints Were Builders

We don’t talk about this enough.

Some saints weren’t just holy they were builders.

People like:

• Saint Ignatius of Loyola

• Saint Francis of Assisi

• Saint Dominic

They founded orders from nothing.

If we looked at what they built through a modern lens, we’d probably call them startup founders.

At scale, some of these movements became the equivalent of unicorns except the currency wasn’t just capital.
It was trust, faith, and service.

Each of them faced obstacles that would kill most modern projects before launch.

They kept going anyway.

What They Actually Built (From Nothing)

Here’s the part that most people don’t believe until they see it

• Padre Pio raised an estimated $325 million to build a hospital in San Giovanni Rotondo, starting from nothing

• Saint Vincent de Paul raised the equivalent of over $200 million to care for thousands of abandoned children in Paris

• Saint John Bosco went from being loaned a farmhouse to founding schools across the world

• Saint Damien of Molokai built a functioning town on Molokai when there was nothing there

These weren’t abstract miracles. They showed that God can do the impossible

The Lie We Tell Ourselves Today

Here’s what makes me genuinely unhappy:

So many people believe it’s impossible to do good and survive.

They convince themselves that meaningful work can’t sustain you.

That faith and ambition can’t coexist.

That doing too much good somehow breaks the system.

That’s not true.

What is true is this:

People would rather lie to themselves than sit with the pain that God uses to realize what we maybe can do.

Christmas Explains Why This Works

In the Incarnation, Jesus chose to enter the world quietly without power, capital, or security.

A child.
A poor family.
A hidden life in Nazareth.

It was truly something so humble and small that wasn’t loud or searching for attention.

Creating for God Changes the Equation

The saints didn’t build for outcomes.

They built for God and let everything else follow.

They were not trying to “change the world.”
They were trying to be faithful and humble.

And by grace, their dreams and work still came true.

Not always in the way they expected.
But often in ways far greater than they imagined.

That is the model that has shaped how I now see entrepreneurship.

I See the Same Pattern Emerging Today

Through Fides, we’ve watched modern versions of this take shape in New York City.

People creating because they’re called to, not because it’s optimized:

• Pierre Ferragu bringing the story of saints to life through the Bernadette Musical

• Jacob Ciccarelli building Truthly, a Catholic AI app

• Mike Espiritu creating the White Cross Ball

And many others in our community who have been with us as well as in the New York Catholic community:

• Sara Morano hosting Italian film nights at the Old Cathedral

• Michel helping build a Lebanese Maronite Church in Manhattan

• Ellie Clougherty advocating for and aiding survivors of abuse

• Patrick Dwyer running monthly homeless outreach in Hells Kitchen

• Spencer McIntosh founding Higher Word at St. Anthony’s

• Zach Watters building the School of Sacred Music

• Erin McAtee co-founding ArtHouse2B for Catholic artists

Each one feels like a small order forming.

Different charisms.
Same foundation.

This Is an Invitation, Not a Conclusion

Especially at Christmas, this is worth sitting with:

There is far more good that could be done than we allow ourselves to believe.

And often, the only thing holding us back isn’t resources as proven by the saints but
it’s the refusal to trust that creating for God can actually work.

The saints already proved that it can.

We are simply being asked whether we are willing to try again
in our own time, with our own gifts, in our own way.

Let us think over this as we think of the birth of our king and savior!

We wish you a Merry Christmas, and may God bless you.

Fides Entrepreneurship