You Can Take It with You

 

Making the poor our priority like Jesus did

10/20/2025

Luke 12:13-21 Someone in the crowd said to Jesus, "Teacher, tell my brother to share the inheritance with me." He replied to him, "Friend, who appointed me as your judge and arbitrator?" Then he said to the crowd, "Take care to guard against all greed, for though one may be rich, one's life does not consist of possessions." Then he told them a parable. "There was a rich man whose land produced a bountiful harvest. He asked himself, 'What shall I do, for I do not have space to store my harvest?' And he said, 'This is what I shall do: I shall tear down my barns and build larger ones. There I shall store all my grain and other goods and I shall say to myself, "Now as for you, you have so many good things stored up for many years, rest, eat, drink, be merry!"' But God said to him, 'You fool, this night your life will be demanded of you; and the things you have prepared, to whom will they belong?' Thus will it be for the one who stores up treasure for himself but is not rich in what matters to God."

I recently opened a small investment account with Fidelity. Priests, as you may know, can retire at the age of 75, so in case I live that long, I figured I should save a little money for my golden years. When I open my account now-a-days, a screen pops up that asks: “Would you like to designate a beneficiary?” That means: in case I die, who should all my millions of dollars go to?

They offer plenty of options, such as my spouse, my children, other relatives, or a charity. But I always skip that option because I designated a beneficiary for my millions 29 years ago when I was ordained a priest in 1996. Dc. Bo McAllister, an attorney for the diocese, helped me fill out my Last Will and Testament shortly after I was ordained. And he asked me back then what Fidelity asks me today: “Would you like to designate a beneficiary when you die?”

I think I laughed out loud when Dc. Bo asked me that question because I was 26 years old, fit as a fiddle, and fully felt like I would life forever. In case you are wondering: I designated the Diocese of Little Rock as my beneficiary. Why? Because a priest is married to the Church, and so I am leaning all my millions to you, my spouse, the Diocese of Little Rock.

In the gospel today Jesus helps someone to manage their Fidelity account and helps them to designate a beneficiary. A man asks Jesus: “Teacher, tell my brother to share the inheritance with me.” And our Lord tells the parable of a man who kept skipping that question about designating a beneficiary and simply lived for the moment.

Like me at 26 and in the prime of life, the foolish man thought he would never die and have to designate a beneficiary. And Jesus concludes: “Be rich in what matters to God.” And by the way, what matters most to God? Well, if you have been paying close attention in Luke’s gospel, Jesus is primarily worried about the poor, the foreigner, and women.

That is, these categories of people are invariably the heroes in Jesus’ parables and teachings. Like the foreign Good Samaritan in Luke 10, the poor man Lazarus in Luke 16, the widow of Nain in Luke 7. In other words, if you want to know who Jesus would designate as a beneficiary for his millions, it would be the poor, the stranger, and the widows. Why?

Well, because they are the object of his special solicitude and care. They are the object of his love; they are his Church, and his Bride. Put differently, when you leave your inheritance to church or charity, you are effectively leaving it to the same category of people. Church and charity are synonymous, at least for Jesus. In a sense, the poor are the first-class citizens of the kingdom of God.

By the way, have you read Pope Leo XIV’s first document called Dilexi Te (I have loved you)? He continues Pope Francis’ profound priority of loving the poor. Leo writes: “I share the desire of my predecessor [Pope Francis] that all Christians come to appreciate the close connection between Christ’s love and his summons to care for the poor” (no. 3).

In other words, Jesus’ love for the poor is so intense and unconditional because the poor are his Church, his Bride, who he came to die for and to save. Hence the document is title, “Dilexi te” “I have loved you, that is, Jesus is saying, “I have loved the poor.”

It is often said in estate planning that “you can’t take it with you.” Well, I rather disagree with that and feel confident you can take it with you. How so? Well, everything we donate freely and joyfully to the poor we will get back in heaven and with interest. But even more than simply an ROI (return on the investment), our gifts to the poor are actually helping the citizenry of God’s kingdom on earth.

In other words, giving to church or charity are two ways of saying the same thing, provided the church makes the poor her priority, like Pope Leo XIV is teaching us. When we designate our beneficiary as the poor, we are essentially taking it with us because it will be waiting for us in heaven. And we are making earth a little more heavenly for them.

Praised be Jesus Christ!