The goods of the earth belong to God, who distributes them as he will, and humans are only their stewards, administrators at various degrees of honesty and intelligence. They are so little the individual property of humans that God often foils all foresight, and wealth escapes those who believe they are most entitled to it.

You  might say that  this is understandable in regards to inherited wealth, but the same does not apply to wealth acquired through one’s labor. Undoubtedly, if it is legitimate wealth, then it must have been honestly obtained, for property is only legitimately acquired when, to possess it, one has not done harm to anyone. There will be an accounting for every cent wrongly acquired in detriment to someone else. However, just because certain individuals owe their wealth to their own efforts, does that give them any power over it upon dying? Are not the precautions they take to transmit it to their descendants often useless? For if God does not want it to fall into their hands, nothing will prevail against his will. Can people use and abuse their wealth while alive without having to give an accounting? No. In allowing them to acquire it, God might have wished to reward their efforts, courage and perseverance over the course of their current life. However, if they use it only to satisfy their senses or their pride, or if it becomes a cause of failure in their hands, it would be better for them not to have possessed it at all; they lose on one hand what they have gained on the other, thereby annulling the merit of their labor. When they depart the earth, God will tell them that they have already received their reward.

M., A Protector Spirit (Brussels, 1861)