I was intrigued by the Gospel reading during Sunday’s Mass yesterday.
After the Gospel reading my parish priest spoke intricately about the poor around the world in his homily and then spoke about the poor in our own city with the soup kitchens and the incredible amount of people that frequent these establishments daily.
Every Sunday after Mass all throughout the year three to four men and sometimes a young woman stand at the bottom of main entrance granite stairs of the our Church on the sidewalk. They all have empty paper coffee cups looking for money hand-outs from parishioners as they’re exiting the Church after Mass. Our Parish priest made comment on this due to a number of complaints from parishioners, some perhaps who feel nervous with such strangers who are disheveled and who haven’t had a bath or shower in months.
Reports from RCMP police officers in our parish have told our parish priest that these same beggars (“pan-handlers”) are often found locked up in a jail cell weekly for being drunk. These same homeless beggars have no fixed address and throughout the year live on the streets by day and sleep behind buildings or on park benches downtown at night.
Our priest in his homily yesterday told the parishioners NOT to give them any more money handouts because we would only be encouraging their getting drunk.
I feel left with a dilemma. I’m poor myself on social assistance and make less than $400.00 a month. I’m also terminally ill with cancer. If it wasn’t for my terminally ill mother supporting me I don’t know where I would be. Probably a homeless beggar like themselves and resorting myself to a drunken stupor if it was in my means as an escape.
Fact is I can’t afford the leisure of drinking given my state in life. I’m certainly not here to judge these poor men and women. When I come out of Church Mass on Sundays and if I have some small pocket change I’ll place it in their waiting coffee cups. Am I sinning by doing this? What ever happened to giving alms to the poor without letting your left hand knowing what your right hand is freely giving? The priest does have a point, but I find its ill-defined in the extreme as if to say we shouldn’t give any beggars (pan-handlers} on the streets extra change from our pockets. Confused?
There are plenty of ways you can help these people out without necessarily funding their alcoholism. You could buy a few $5 gift cards to McDonald’s or Wendy’s or something. Or even a grocery store, depending on the liquor laws in your state.
You could offer to actually take one of them to a grocery store to buy some groceries - this way you could get to know them as a person as well.
If you don’t have much to offer, or if you are uncomfortable about getting “tagged” (a few unfortunate incidents have caused most of my male friends to warn me away from giving directly to people on the streets), talk to your priest. Perhaps something can be arranged.
Perhaps he can set up a basket inside the church where parishoners can drop donation on the way out, and then he can buy the gift cards or take these people to a grocery store (or some men in the parish can rotate). The parish can invite these people in for hospitality Sunday or take some doughnuts out to them. I’m sure if you talk to your priest or other parishoners, you guys can get creative!
It is hard and awkward to not help someone standing right next to you, especially when you are on your way out of a church! And bless you for your generosity even when it is so hard.
These people will never be able to get off the streets without breaking their alcholism. A few pennies won’t help them build their dreams up again, but it can easily send them back down the dark path that got them on the streets to begin with. It is a tough situation, and one that breaks most caring people’s hearts to see.
