From 1988 to 1994, as a business development manager for Pepsi Cola in Hungary, economist Laura contributed to the growth of the company and the advancement of her personal life. However, Laura's relatives were surprised when she said that she gave up everything to dedicate her life in the Dominican order.
As a successful Pepsi Cola businesswoman, Laura Britz has moved places. However, in 1992, when the mother was diagnosed with terminal cancer, Laura wanted to spend more hours with her mother, and Laura's ambitions for wealth and success decreased.
Since then, every time the company sends Laura to work in other countries, Laura takes her mother with her. This was also the time when Laura became more interested in the faith. “During that time, I felt my faith strengthened,” says Laura. I feel closer to God, I pray more. In general, I have a more active faith life.”
And when her mother died, Laura made a definitive decision for her life. The nun, nicknamed Pepsi, said: “The moment my mother passed away changed my life completely. I was with my mother, holding her in my arms, and when the light left her eyes, I really felt God welcoming her, as if my mother had moved from my arms to God's. I believe, now my mother is with the Lord. Since then, the person in me has not been the same. I no longer want to live a comfortable life with the fleeting things of this world, no longer want to follow materialism. I want to follow Christ.”
After her mother's funeral, the young businesswoman tried to contact the Dominican nuns who had been her friends. Laura was then introduced to a spiritual director who helped discern vocations and visited a Dominican convent. Laura talks about how she felt when she first came to the community of nuns: “I immediately felt this was my home. I am convinced this is a sign that the Lord wants to tell me that this is the place for me. So just a year after my mother died, I officially joined the Dominican convent.
Like other nuns entering the convent, the young entrepreneur was trained in theology and philosophy as well as in matters related to the Dominican vocation.
On a trip to Rome, Sister Laura met Sister Helen Alford, a Dominican, President of the Pontifical Academy of Social Sciences, also trained as an economist. The young nun recounted this encounter: “I told Sister Helen that I used to be an economist, but gave up everything to become a nun. The President of the Pontifical Academy told me that the best thing to do is to combine economics with theology.”
With this advice, on her return to Hungary, Sister Laura began an in-depth study of the Catholic Church's teaching on economics.
After completing her doctoral thesis, the economic expert nun established a curriculum that promoted an economic thought grounded in Catholic ethics and social thought, following a "child-centered" approach. people are the center”.
"I think we've gone too far in taking a pragmatic approach, and now it's time to put the person back at the center of all these mechanisms," she said.
The courses of “Sister Pepsi” increasingly attract young people to participate. Through her sermons, some people were converted. She happily said: “Recently, a young person received Baptism after attending our course. Another student left a job in a company, thinking that the working environment was full of corruption. Now, this student has founded a new company with the desire to make a better contribution to the public good.”
With what has been through, Sister Laura Baritz now believes that her life is always in God's loving provident hands. With this conviction, she walked peacefully on the journey that the Lord would show her day by day.
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