Denying Help to the Poor

[RedDuke50]

On an examination of conscience at catholicparents.org, it said that it is a mortal sin to “denying help to the poor, needy or destitute when able to help them easily”. So that means that if I see a begger on the street asking for money, and I have a quarter or something, I have to give it to him? Or somebody is homeless without food, I need to give him food?
Thank you

 

[joshua_b]

I think your criteria for assessment is too granular. By this way of thinking we could disect this further: Would a quarter truly help the beggar on the street? What if you give the beggar $10 and they purchase alcohol or drugs with the money? If you see a homeless person who obviously is malnourished, is it a sin to pass them in a hurry because you are running late for work? What if you are running late for work, but your attendance is perfect, and the boss won’t care if you are 15 minutes past due? What if you are on probation with your employer and you could get fired if you’re late, but someone’s survival depends on you stopping to help them? What if you are unaware at the time that their situation is critical and their life depends on your help?

PLEASE do not think I am mocking you; that is not so. I just think that the whole point of this as it relates to examination of conscience is that I don’t know of anyone (myself included) who is not capable of doing/giving more (money, time, etc.) than what they do. It is a sin to deny those who are in need, and it is important that we examine this to determine where we have fallen short of our obligation to help those who can not help themselves.

This is actually a very good question that you ask. I have never thought or been told to include this in my examination of conscience, and it is definitely something I will be mindful of from now on.

 

[JRKH]

On an examination of conscience at catholicparents.org, it said that it is a mortal sin to “denying help to the poor, needy or destitute when able to help them easily”. So that means that if I see a beggar on the street asking for money, and I have a quarter or something, I have to give it to him? Or somebody is homeless without food, I need to give him food?
Thank you

The short answer is - if you wish to follow Christ - YES.

The longer answer is a lot more complicated as I’m sure the follow on responses will make clear…

Peace
James

 

[stephe1987]

Umm… on the news recently it was discovered that the people standing on street corners begging are making $80,000 per year in a time when many families are struggling, people are unemployed, etc. They are doing very well financially by pretending to be poor.

If you want to help a homeless person, offer them some food. Maybe there is a homeless shelter nearby you can direct them to so they can shower and have a safe place to sleep. And the nearest Catholic hospital should be able to help them with their health care needs.

 

[fredms3]

Give according what we think is best for those people begging before us. By the looks you’ll know if one is truly a beggar or just someone pretending to be.

There is no rule on how much we give, but there is a precept that we must give to the poor and the needy. The thing that matter here is you and the beggar. You decide it for yourself.

Anyway, God loves those who are cheerful givers.

 

[Qoeleth]

On an examination of conscience at catholicparents.org, it said that it is a mortal sin to “denying help to the poor, needy or destitute when able to help them easily”. So that means that if I see a begger on the street asking for money, and I have a quarter or something, I have to give it to him? Or somebody is homeless without food, I need to give him food?
Thank you

Yes. For the Gospel says “Give to anyone who asks. If anyone asks for your cloak, give him your tunic. If anyone would have go one mile, go two.”

 

[JRKH]

Yes. For the Gospel says “Give to anyone who asks. If anyone asks for your cloak, give him your tunic. If anyone would have go one mile, go two.”

This is one of the verse I was thinking of when I posted earlier.

Of course we must also remember that some of what Jesus preached was a bit toward the “radical”. I don’t mean that in any negative sense.
Some, like St Francis and Mother Theresa and certain religious orders, are called to “radical poverty” and service to the poor. However others are called to different vocations and these vocations (marriage, children, business etc.) impose differing responsibilities.
Because of this, the verse sited above needs to be understood within the particular vocation and capacity of the one being asked.
Likewise, there needs to be an understanding of the time and place when Jesus said this. The economic and social service structure and even how the beggar was regarded were vastly different than what we have today.

We should NEVER say no to the beggar (though I know that we probably all do). On the other hand, as others have pointed out, we can channel our money in such a way as to assure that it is actually going to help the needy.

One last thought (and possibly another thread) is this. Of all of the possible vocations and vows for a Christian, I don’t believe that being “rich” is one of them.

Peace
James