Let us pray, this November, for the proper use of wealth, as Pope Leo XIV invites us to recognise that everything we possess is a gift entrusted to us by God. In this month when the Church remembers the faithful departed, we are confronted with a profound truth we often prefer to forget: we are only visitors on this earth. The prayer for the proper use of wealth and the remembrance of the dead converge in one compelling lesson: what we possess is temporary, but how we love, serve and share may bear eternal significance.
Those who now rest in the cemetery once laughed, dreamed, built homes, accumulated wealth and pursued success. Today, they have departed. Tomorrow, we shall follow. We came into this world with nothing, and we shall leave with nothing. What, then, shall remain of us?
Pope Leo XIV reminds us that everything we possess comes from the Lord: our talents, the fruits of the earth and the efforts of those who came before us. Nothing is ours alone; everything is a shared gift. This is the heart of Laudato Si’, that the earth is our common home, entrusted to humanity, not created for selfish possession.
We are not absolute owners but responsible stewards. Yet wealth can become a dangerous master when it hardens our hearts, blinds us to suffering and makes us forget the poor. How often do we accumulate more while others struggle for the necessities of life? How often do we build walls around our possessions instead of bridges of solidarity?
In Luke 16:19–31, Jesus presents the striking contrast between a rich man, clothed in fine linen and feasting daily, and Lazarus, a poor man lying at his gate, longing for crumbs. Both eventually die, but their eternal destinies reveal the danger of wealth without compassion. The rich man possessed abundance, yet lacked the charity that gives wealth its true meaning. His tragedy was not that he had possessions, but that his possessions had consumed his heart.
Jesus asks, “What shall it profit a man, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul?” (Mark 8:36). True happiness is not found in accumulation but in communion; not merely in possessing goods, but in loving God and neighbour.
Qoheleth declares, “Vanity of vanities; all is vanity” (Ecclesiastes 1:2). The mansion remains, the vehicle remains, the bank account remains, but the owner is gone. The earth receives what we once called ours. Indeed, a visitor does not monopolise the well, deny others a place at the table or mistake temporary shelter for permanent ownership. Rather, a visitor lives with gratitude, humility and consideration for others.
Pope Leo XIV invites us to make economic, family and community decisions with hearts free from selfishness, recognising that every good is intended for all. True wealth is measured not by what we keep, but by what we generously share.
A mother who shares her meal with a hungry neighbour, a student who helps a struggling classmate, a farmer who shares seeds and a Christian who offers forgiveness embody a wealth far greater than material abundance.
November is not merely a month of mourning; it is a school of wisdom. The departed remind us silently: do not cling to what cannot accompany you into eternity.
Let us live differently while time remains: humbly, generously and compassionately. Let our wealth become service, our success become solidarity and our lives become instruments of justice and peace. For we are only visitors, but through love, we can leave behind a legacy that continues to speak when our voices have fallen silent.
by: Sem. Robert Bigabwarugaba, rrobertrugaba@gmail.com, St. Paul’s National Seminary – Kinyamasika
