Building a Catholic legacy for future generations

By Dr. Thomas J. Neal, Guest Columnist

My paternal grandfather, who died at the age of 99, wrote me 26 handwritten letters between 1986 and 1996, some of them exceeding 30 pages. Each was filled with wisdom on the importance of faith and education, with advice on facing hardships in life, as well as sage counsel on things like friendship, money, honesty, hard work, marriage and parenting.

Those letters are like sacraments to me, tangible signs of his love that communicate the contents of his heart into my own heart. Both he and my grandmother always lived in the present while mindful of the future welfare of others. They deemed the handing on their wisdom and knowledge to future generations to be a sacred duty and expression of love.

To me, that is the heartbeat of legacy, fulfilling the sacred duty of placing all we have been given by God in service to the well-being of others, as God would have us.

Build a legacy

Throughout Sacred Scripture, the idea of building a legacy for future generations dominates. Abraham, Moses, King David, Jeremiah, Sirach, Mary, the Apostles – Jesus himself – all of them revered the sacredness of the Tradition they had received from the past, and then lived “into the future” as good stewards.

Such a legacy-driven life reveals a heart intent on love for God and for future generations. In the kingdom, such love is the truest treasure, and “where your treasure is, there your heart will be also” (Mt 6:21).

I like to say that the Mass itself is the supreme sign of Christ’s enduring legacy. In the Mass, through Word and sacrament, Jesus hands over to us the whole of God’s own treasury of life and love, of wisdom and mercy. We who participate in the Mass, who feast on the riches of the kingdom of heaven, are commanded at the end of Mass to “Go in peace, glorifying the Lord by your life.”

As a church, living instruments of God’s kingdom crashing into our world, we have been entrusted with a treasure of infinite value! And we have been commanded by our king to protect, cultivate and share this rich “deposit of faith” with every person, so that “all may be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth” (1 Tim 2:4).

Each of us, as a full member of Christ’s body, bears this noble burden of the Great Commission: “Go into all the world and proclaim the good news to the whole creation” (Mk 16:15).

Use our actions as words

A Catholic legacy means living out, witnessing to and handing on the beauty of our faith within our family, our workplace, our community – really, anywhere we find ourselves. It means becoming the saints God made us to be, making a mark in the world that reveals the heart of Jesus Christ more clearly.

How? By being ambassadors of Christ in the world! And by the investment of our time, talent, and treasure into God’s church, our Catholic family, supporting the many people, programs, and institutions that carry out the day-to-day mission of the Church. This mission includes evangelization, catechesis, Catholic education, the charitable works of the church and the formation of future priests. By investing in these, we directly participate in building up the body of Christ and ensuring Christ’s Great Commission will be carried out faithfully.

My grandfather wrote in his last letter to me a line he took from the movie, “It’s a Wonderful Life”: “All you can take with you is that which you’ve given away.”

That was my grandparents’ legacy. That is the legacy of Christ.

What will be your legacy?

Interested in learning more about leaving your Catholic legacy? Please contact the Catholic Community Foundation at 596-3031 or lchmiola@ccfnola.org for more information.

Dr. Thomas Neal is the theological consultant for the Catholic Community Foundation. Since 2012, he has served as a professor of spiritual theology, director of the Institute for Lay Ecclesial Ministry, academic dean and director of intellectual formation at Notre Dame Seminary in New Orleans. He is also a faculty member of the Institute for Priestly Formation at Creighton University in Omaha.