There is great gain in religion
The scandal of the real poor.
This subject has been on my mind for days - maybe even weeks - the embarrassment of the poor. Catholic priests, nuns, and lay people can beg for money for their worthy causes - sometimes very personal causes - and yet others think nothing of it. But if a drunken homeless man asks for $1 outside the church after Mass - it is deemed a nuisance.
If not begging, professional Catholics can sell themselves at every opportunity as well - “buy my stuff, or pay my way and support me, my family, or my vocation, because I’m a good Catholic.” Yet when it comes to the truly poor and the destitute - entire cities want nothing to do with them. Why do we despise the poor when they are on our doorstep or on our streets?
It hasn’t just been the case here in Minneapolis, Minnesota - with the city trying to ban the poor at Caring and Sharing Hands - news today is that Assisi, the birthplace of the greatest beggar ever, St. Francis of Assisi wants to ban begging from the city streets there. Story here.
Obviously the city of Assisi wants the money instead.
April 27th, 2008 at 7:10 pm
Well said! I am in Quito, Ecuador this week and it is so tough to see so many poor folks in the streets. We need to renew or outreach to the poorest of the poor. Our Lord, and St. Francis, wouldn’t have it any other way! God bless! Padre Steve, SDB
April 27th, 2008 at 8:14 pm
I just linked to you Fr. Steve.
April 27th, 2008 at 9:01 pm
Thanks! I will get back to your blog frequently too! God bless! Padre Steve
April 27th, 2008 at 10:10 pm
You know…I don’t think you can use one beg for money to contradict another beg for money. Both are legitimate.
ALL money belongs to God, and indeed, we all need to be called to use those resources. But even those without funds…well, it’s suffering, but it’s redemptive.
Take care not to pit God against God…because you’ll always lose that bet.
Your most popular topic lately has been to juxtapose those who beg for money for things such as money so as to enter religious life and the like…and yet, those who do such things are those who live in the real world and have seen more than maybe YOU have even seen.
And maybe it’s that which leads them to the life of contemplation; for in this world, even the poor would have nothing if there were not a backbone of prayer available for them. If the Sisters and Brothers did not pray, even YOU would not feel the inner desire to fight for them.
You juxtapose falsely; just because X prays and asks for $ is not a detriment to those to have nothing…for the direct giving to those who truly love God does not stop with them as you seem to imply.
Terry, be careful in your arguments…you argue friendships into enemies in order to buy into the same arguments the Dems make..and that enminty isn’t present even though you make it seem to be so.
Take care…arguing against one good does not make that same good evil even by changing the perspective as you seem to imply.
April 28th, 2008 at 7:16 am
Gosh Julie - thanks for the warning.
April 28th, 2008 at 8:28 am
Terry, Julie, I keep going back and forth, too. There’s the Gospel where Judas gets upset that the woman anoints Jesus with oil/nard? and washes His feet with her tears and dries them with her hair (I think that’s grounds for a restraining order, these days.), but I also think it would do the aspirants some good to work patiently toward their goal in order to gain in virtues like patience, perseverance, humility (am I more important than the hungry?). I don’t really want a priest or nun who expects others to take responsibility for his problems. A priest I know told me of a woman who appealed in this way to pay off student loans so she could enter a cloistered convent, then lasted all of a few weeks. Unconfirmed story!
April 28th, 2008 at 9:03 am
Jeanette - I really go back and forth on the issue as well - I often think of the Acts of the Apostles where the Christian community cared for one another in need. Naturally, I’m in full agreement with that. I know someone who never solicited funds to pay off loans, although the monastery offered to do so for the candidate - I have no problem with that kind of stuff.
I think my issue is the idea many younger people have of entitlement and that someone is always going to bail them out or take care of their needs - and yet some continue to live on credit cards and hand outs from relatives and friends, while traveling about and entertaining themselves at will. It has to do with fidelity to one’s duties in one’s state of life - which is at the core of Christian responsibility.
At the same time, their non-religious friends experience similar debt and yet no one is there to pay off their bills for them. This contributes to the impression of receiving special treatment because the person discerning a vocation somehow perceives themselves as special or exempt from responsibilty for their debts.
And yes - I’ve seen people get their pay-offs, treated to one last European vacation, a dramatic reception and Mass, before entering monasteries, and they are out in 6 months.
I think prudence is in order in such cases - just as these same folks like to insist one should be prudent in showing charity towards street people. For instance, if a man/woman goes from major to major in school, job to job or career to career in his working life, and then decides to enter religious life, asking people to pay his bills, does that sound like a stable vocation or a safe investment? Yet that is their “real world” they sometimes fail to perceive, the double standard they themselves are oblivious to. (This is just one aspect of the issue to consider - along with one’s vocation director of course. Certainly if one’s director discerns a vocation to priesthood, by all means, a willing donor, or organization should support that.)
One of the best counsels for following a religious vocation is this - “Sell what you have and give to the poor, then follow me.” I suggest that can be interpreted as: sell what you have, work to pay off your debt, share your life with the poor, and the door will be opened to you - the convent or monastery will still be there when you are ready. One has only to think of the saints, many of them women, who could not enter religious life when they wished due to family circumstances, and in some cases financial difficulties. Their lives demonstrate that when the time was right, they entered the convent.
Indeed, today there are organizations that offer to pay off debt for prospective vocations - and I have no problem with that at all - especially when it comes to candidates for the priesthood. The other matter I consider laudable and even necessary, is supporting seminarians in their education, indeed, even paying their way through scholarships and donations - a vocation to priesthood is an entirely different expediency as far as I’m concerned.
But hey - that is just my personal opinion. As for the real poor, I’m sure it sounds crazy that I think fund-raising for personal convenience differs from begging for one’s sustenance.
April 28th, 2008 at 9:17 am
I think part of the reason so many resent and reject the street poor is the notion that they will only spend the money given them on drink and drugs. There are also unfortunately “professional” beggars who perhaps could work, but instead are really good at begging. These spoil charity in the hearts of many. I make no judgement about the rightness or wrongness, mine is just a comment on some of the why’s behind the phenomena.
I think ours is to give according to our means without judging the one who begs.
April 28th, 2008 at 10:54 am
Terry,
And we won’t refuse any scholarships for seminary for my son! He’s considering the priesthood.
Sanctus Belle,
A friend of ours carries fast food gift cards to give to beggars. We try to support the food pantry.
April 28th, 2008 at 11:23 am
The plight of the poor in the inner city is something that bothers me a lot. I’m not sure that there is a simple solution.
The city that I live in seems to have one of the highest numbers of homeless. Many of them are frequent pan handlers. There are numerous shelters and food pantries run by all of the major denominations to serve the poor and homeless. Many of these people still prefer to camp out along the banks of the river, or under highway bridges and overpasses. (Not sure why that is a favored spot, with all of the constant noise of cars passing overhead, but that’s where they are always at.) Many also prefer to ask for cash, rather than go to where free meals are daily offered.
The church where I usually attend daily mass has a number of such people right outside the doors. The church has already printed a disclaimer in their bulletin, to discourage people from giving money to “pan handlers”… and … “If you are bothered, and have a cell phone, call the police asap.” I feel uncomfortable seeing that in print in a church bulletin, but it’s a tough call. Just last week, right after the consecration, a vagrant walked quickly down the isle and got right up to the altar, just inches from the Blessed Sacrament. Fortunately, someone quickly jumped up, and walked the man away.
There is one man in particular who I have gotten to know a little bit. I’ve given him money in the past; usually not much, because I don’t have much. Sometimes, he asks me for a ride to an area a few blocks away from the church. I always oblige. It’s no problem since it’s on my way home anyway. I drop him off at a little store where he gets lunch. On the ride, I’ve gotten a lot more information from him, and it turns out he was born just a couple months later than me, so we are the same age. He’s told me where he stays at night, so I have a good idea of what life for him is like in the inner-city.
I have given this man cloths right off of my back. One day I gave him a brand new insulated shirt. He was so very appreciative, and I noticed him wearing it from that day forward. Not more than a week passed, and something very disturbing occurred. As I entered the church, he was standing inside the vestibule. He looked at me as if he didn’t recognize me. He asked for help. I said I didn’t have any money, and asked what was wrong? He started screaming at me, and wouldn’t stop. “You wouldn’t help me, and if you had a single penny you wouldn’t give it to me!….” He was wearing the shirt that I had just given him days earlier. I proceeded to Mass, feeling extremely upset. I’m sure that he was drunk, drugged, or going through some kind of schizoid withdraw from drugs that he needed. A couple of days later, he reappeared, and seemed to be his old self. He asked if I could give him a lift, which I did. He seemed only slightly nervous in the car. I acted as if nothing had happened, and said “God bless you” as I dropped him off, and asked him to say a prayer for me.
It’s hard to know what to do. Some see the face of Christ in everyone they meet. Others feel that they are enabling drug and alcohol abuse.
April 28th, 2008 at 12:21 pm
“Why do we despise the poor when they are on our doorstep or on our streets?”
When you start to look for Jesus in the face of the poor, there is less and less hesitation to offer assistance. Daily Mass, the Rosary and Confession helps greatly as well. I’ve both helped the homeless and passed them by. But no longer is that true.
Net
http://cathlete.net
P.S. Happy to hear the update on the Copelands.
April 28th, 2008 at 2:27 pm
Related to the subject of the poor and the homeless, I just got finished reading “The Glass Castle”. It was an eye-opener in more ways than one. There are people living in conditions I wouldn’t have believed, right here in the USA. But yes, it is (sometimes)related to choices they have made. We still have to ask ourselves, WWJD?
April 28th, 2008 at 9:02 pm
Melody, They are their choices, yes, but made with a seriously impaired decision-making process. I don’t think the law lets us take away their “right to choose” homelessness. sad.
April 29th, 2008 at 4:06 am
Yes, I would agree that they often make choices with “a seriously impaired decision-making process”; and we still need to do what we can to help.