Most of us have been raised to believe that we have a right to possess whatever comes to us honestly, either through our own work or through inheritance. No matter how large that wealth might be, it’s ours, as long as we didn’t cheat anyone along the way. By and large, this belief has been enshrined in the laws of our democratic countries and we generally believe that it is morally sanctioned by Christianity. That’s partially true, but a lot needs to be nuanced here. This is not really the view of our Christian Scriptures, nor of the social teachings of the Catholic Church. Not everything we acquire honestly through our own hard work is simply ours to have. We’re not islands and we don’t walk through life alone, as if being solicitous for the welfare of others is something that’s morally optional. The French poet and essayist Charles Péguy once suggested that when we come to the gates of heaven we will all be asked: “Mais ou sont les autres?” (“But where are the others?”). That question issues forth both from our humanity and our faith. So what about the others? It’s an illusion and a fault in our discipleship to think that everything we can possess by our own hard work is ours by right. To think this way is to live the partially examined life. Bill Gates Sr, writing in Sojourners some 15 years ago, challenges not only his famous son, the principal founder of Microsoft, but the rest of us too with these words: