How do you react to the person begging on the street? That’s always been a tough one for me. I generally don’t give to the people on the street who ask of me. In high-and-mighty righteousness, I tell them of the shelters, soup kitchens, and food pantries nearby.
Jesus tells us in Luke 6:30 to give to everyone who asks. I need to change my attitude. I need to give directly to the poor and vulnerable, and not just to the food pantry. I need to give because It’s Not My Money!
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One counterpoint: “Let your alms sweat in the palms of your hands until you know to whom you are giving.” Didache 1:6. It’s not biblical but it is the earliest “training manual” for catechumens. I think the idea is to make sure that your alms are doing good rather than enabling evil. When we think of “giving to the poor” today, we think of money. That’s pretty common but it’s also quick and easy. Would it not be more Christian to buy something that one begging on the street would need but can’t trade in to buy drugs or other vices? Better to give an Egg McMuffin and eat yours with him/her than give a medium of exchange which may end up doing no good.