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Faith, finance, and a maternity home
March 02, 2025
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Like the two men in the parable of the talents, Chris McMahon has taken the gifts God has given him and multiplied them so that they are not only gifts to his family and those around him, but to his community as well.
Chris McMahon is a Catholic financial advisor who graduated from Duquesne University in 1986 with a BA in economics. Over 30 years ago, he began MFA Wealth, which focuses “on helping clients with their personal wealth management and estate planning needs.” But the longer Chris spent in the financial world and the more he witnessed a rise in “woke” policies, the more he realised that many companies are “funding the devil”. Increasing numbers of corporations give money to organisations like Planned Parenthood or other anti-Catholic businesses.
Further, individuals have no idea that their money is going to fund organisations that don’t align with their values.
Friends started asking Chris how they could ensure their investments were consistent with their faith, and after much contemplation, Chris knew he had to use his skills to right this wrong. So four years ago, he founded Aquinas Wealth Advisors — a company where people could “align faith with their investments.”
No longer do people have to sit silently by and watch their money subsidise organisations that fund immoral practices. His company has empowered people to have a say in their investments and to make a statement to companies about whom they give money to.
Ethical investing
As Chris explains, Aquinas Wealth “has developed technology that allows people to see not only the businesses these companies are in but the social activism they have. It’s called the Faith and Finance Score.” This tool allows anyone to input the companies they’re investing in and find what these companies support.
Chris’ goal is to “radically transform the world, where these companies are going to say ‘we get it’” and stop giving money to organisations that promote a culture of death. Today, Aquinas Wealth helps individuals, institutions, and dioceses determine what their money supports.
Why the name "Aquinas"? Chris explains that his devotion to Aquinas goes further than the fact that he’s brilliant and a deep thinker. He highlighted Aquinas’ teaching that there are three things necessary for the salvation of man. Aquinas taught that man should know what he ought to think, to know what he ought to desire, and to know what he ought to do. And Chris says, “That’s what I want to be.” He has used these words of wisdom to inspire his work at Aquinas Wealth and beyond.
But finance is not the only part of Chris’ life that has been impacted by his faith.
He and his wife Molly have been married for over 35 years. Together, they share five children and a deep devotion to the Catholic faith. Not quite 10 years ago, Chris started a chapter of Legatus — “an international organisation of Catholic laymen and laywomen, comprising CEOs, presidents, managing partners and business owners (with their spouses), from business and professional enterprises” — in Pittsburgh. He became its president, then eventually vice chair of the Legatus International Board of Directors.
Safe house
As time went on and he and Molly immersed themselves in the Catholic community, becoming more deeply involved in their faith, they realised that that was the only place they were finding joy.
And they wanted to spread that joy to others. So approximately six years ago, they opened a maternity home for unwed moms. Mary’s Place is located in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, where Chris and his family live. Since its inception, it has served 85 women. The gorgeous home, where mothers may stay up to a year, can house eight moms at one time, and right now it is full — with eight moms and eight beautiful babies.
Mary’s Place is a wonderful alternative for moms who feel scared and who have nowhere to go. Chris proudly states that pro-life and pro-family values can be seen throughout the facility. Staffed by a wonderful group of volunteers and by Nigerian nuns, the home teaches life skills, helps moms further their education, and gives them a safe place to go so they can get back on their feet.
Chris expressed his amazement about the fact that the whole community has rallied around the home. Since the home’s opening, all of their friends began to help, and they have never experienced a dearth of volunteers. What he finds especially beneficial for the moms is the fact that husbands and wives volunteer together, and through this volunteer work, they model holy marriage and how a man should treat a woman. These life lessons go a long way toward helping the women see their value, as well as the value of their children.
Chris and Molly McMahon have made significant impacts not only in their community but throughout the country, as mothers are embracing motherhood and investors are taking charge of whom their money funds.
Aquinas once wrote that “faith is condivided with hope and charity.” The McMahons live out this lesson every day of their lives.
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Susan Ciancio is a graduate of the University of Notre Dame and has worked as a writer and editor for over 20 years; nearly 16 of those years have been in the pro-life sector. Currently, she is the editor of American Life League’s Celebrate Life Magazine — the nation’s premier Catholic pro-life magazine. She is also the director and executive editor of ALL’s Culture of Life Studies Program — a pre-K-12 Catholic pro-life education organisation.
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Emberson Fedders commented 2025-03-04 13:36:10 +1100Well, this is good. Helping desperate women is a noble cause, particularly as the American government has no interest whatsoever in doing this.
It’s good that these women had a choice about what they wanted to do with their lives. -
