No empathy for the homeless/poor

[royal_archer]

Jesus told us not to judge others. We don’t know how these people got to where they are today, now do we know if they are even capable of work.

St. Francis would tell us to unconditionally love everyone. He would tell us to do what ever we can to help them. He would probably go so far as to thank the homeless for giving him an opportunity to show his love for God by helping them.

We can not tell. So we should choose the option that has the least risk of doing harm. Providing opportunity, helping those you know are in need in a way that will help, and giving to charities tha know what they are doing are better options than risking making the condition worse for those with inner demons.

 

[royal_archer]

I’d ask them how they react to persons having a physical or mental disability?

Like disabilities of a bodily type, poverty can happen to anybody. “There but for the grace of God go I.”

And many persons who are poor became poor because of a mental disability.

ICXC NIKA.

Poverty can happen to anybody but perpetual multi generation poverty takes intent.

For those with disabilities we need more industries like
tibh.org/tibh-info/about-tibh.html
"About TIBH
TIBH (Texas Industries for the Blind and Handicapped) provides a market for products produced by blind and handicapped Texans. We also offer the products and Services without competitive bidding to state agencies.
TIBH Industries, Inc. - TIBH helps provide employment, through the State Use Works Wonders Program, for Texans with blindness and other disabilities.

In 2009, there were approximately 7,000 people with various disabilities employed all over Texas, and TIBH contracts paid over $28 million in wages to these exceptional Texans.

Mission Statement
TIBH develops and implements business and marketing initiatives which provide employment opportunities for individuals with disabilities. "

Most people with pride will not take hand outs if they can at all avoid it. It is not until they are foced to take welfare that there pride is broken. Once this happens and they loose self esteem, it is easier and easier for them to live a life of dependency. We should not be contributing to the destruction of their pride and should be working to provide the opportunities that drew millions to America’s shores.

 

[HeWillProvide]

What else would He say? It is our choice and our choice alone that separates us from God.

Yours in Christ
Joe

Right, but I guess my question is what does God say after this? (If he does indeed say this at all)

If every human being “got what he deserved” (as supposedly do the homeless), wouldn’t every human being be in hell?

It just seems like God is always there to help us sinners on earth, even while we are choosing sin, no?

 

[royal_archer]

Right, but I guess my question is what does God say after this? (If he does indeed say this at all)

If every human being “got what he deserved” (as supposedly do the homeless), wouldn’t every human being be in hell?

It just seems like God is always there to help us sinners on earth, even while we are choosing sin, no?

If we are fortunate we will not get what we deserve. However God does show extreme mercy and provides for our needs. I assume that those who live with less on earth will get more in heaven. However I don’t think it is mearly a matter of what we have on earth but also what we do with what we are given. Do we choose to make the most of it or do we choose to exploit.

 

[KEVIN_WILCOX]

The chronic panhandlers are virtually all alcoholics or drug addicts. I never give them anything. They don’t want food. They can’t hold jobs long because of their addictions. Some are persistent or aggressive panhandlers. They will give you some sob story as you try to walk away. They are all lying. I have even complained to some people who have given these panhandlers money, because they are enablers. Their hearts are in the right place, but their brains just ain’t workin’.

 

[KEVIN_WILCOX]

With those that you describe they may need a bit of a nudge. of course feeding their addictions does not help. Perhaps a work camp where they can earn a living under controlled conditions until they adjust to the new lifestyle.

What a horrific thought!!!
Scoop up the poor and deliver them to what amounts to a labour camp or a prison.
Is it a crime to be poor?

 

[aspawloski4th]

What a horrific thought!!!
Scoop up the poor and deliver them to what amounts to a labour camp or a prison.
Is it a crime to be poor?

If he had his way everyone would be working from the toddler 2 doors down from you to the 96 yearold widow who lives behind you. He dwells on who is working less than him. the mean has become the end with him.

 

[EbonyEve]

DID NOT JESUS

tell you to become homeless??
Did he not tell you to lose your life for him?

They don’t need your help.
Get help from them.

He never spoke about being poor in possessions so much as to be poor in spirit.
Poor in God. Poor in the love.

Those homeless people have so much love that they are made low.

Listen to a homeless man. And he will know more about God than you ever heard.

 

[KEVIN_WILCOX]

Well with a few exceptions they did put themselves there. The sooner a person understands that the sooner they can get themselves out of the position they are in.
Yours in Christ
Joe

There are sins that belong to the individual, there are sins that belong to society.
“And the Lord said to Cain: Where is thy brother Abel? And he answered, I know not: am I my brother’s keeper? And the Lord said to him: What hast thou done? the voice of thy brother’s blood crieth to me from the earth.” (Gen 4:9,10)

Joe, I doubt you are mine in Christ.

 

[josephdaniel29]

Right, but I guess my question is what does God say after this? (If he does indeed say this at all)

If every human being “got what he deserved” (as supposedly do the homeless), wouldn’t every human being be in hell?

It just seems like God is always there to help us sinners on earth, even while we are choosing sin, no?

Like I’ve said several times already we must show love and mercy. Enabling a person is neither loving nor merciful.

It has nothing to do with getting what they deserve, it’s a simple elucidation of fact. What you can do is help that person see that they are the only one who can change their life and you do that by not enabling them and making sure they have help available to them when they are ready to change.

Yours in Christ
Joe

 

[josephdaniel29]

There are sins that belong to the individual, there are sins that belong to society.
“And the Lord said to Cain: Where is thy brother Abel? And he answered, I know not: am I my brother’s keeper? And the Lord said to him: What hast thou done? the voice of thy brother’s blood crieth to me from the earth.” (Gen 4:9,10)

You don’t “keep” your brother by helping him kill himself or helping him remain in poverty and misery. I’ll ask you the same question I asked another poster. Do you have any experience with addiction? I do. I’m a recovering alcoholic/addict and I almost killed myself several times. I know about enabling.

Do you have any experience actually working with the homeless, not just giving them your spare change? I do. I’ve worked at several rescue missions and met many homeless people in my stints in rehab. I know the mindset. I know the sickness. I’ve seen it up close and personal. I’ve lived it.

Joe, I doubt you are mine in Christ.

If you want to be your brothers keeper don’t give them money and thereby enable them to stay in their misery. It’s no different from giving an alcoholic a bottle of liquor because you feel sorry that he has withdrawal symptoms. It’s quick and easy and gives you a momentary high but it’s not helping the person. Get involved with a local shelter or rescue mission. There your time and money can make a difference for a person who is ready to change.

Yours in Christ
Joe

 

[centurionguard]

Right, but I guess my question is what does God say after this? (If he does indeed say this at all)

If every human being “got what he deserved” (as supposedly do the homeless), wouldn’t every human being be in hell?

It just seems like God is always there to help us sinners on earth, even while we are choosing sin, no?

**I think your forgetting a strong statement Jesus Himself prophesied in perpetuity when speaking about the poor here on earth. Remember He said; You’ll always have the poor amongst you. **

So is being poor a systemic fault enforced by a society enraptured by the culmination of greed and possessions or does one choose to lay bias fault on a person being poor without taking any consideration how such a person arrived to such a state?

Does one blame the individual people of Africa, India or Central America for being poor simply because they are born in poverty?

Nothing personal to you friend; but I see a lot of heavy bias thrown around on this thread.

There are strong social forces, political or otherwise that work against the social well being of society as a whole. Poverty overall is caused by the powers at hand formed by selfish GREED and power hungry dictators hell-bent on possessing riches. And some of those dictators live right here in our own cities.

These same Greed mongrels live amongst us and are reliant on lording it over the backs of the poor. It’s been this way for thousands of years.

 

[KEVIN_WILCOX]

You don’t “keep” your brother by helping him kill himself or helping him remain in poverty and misery. I’ll ask you the same question I asked another poster. Do you have any experience with addiction? I do. I’m a recovering alcoholic/addict and I almost killed myself several times. I know about enabling./

Do I have any experience with addiction? Without going into detail, yes, both on a personal and on communal level.

Do you have any experience actually working with the homeless, not just giving them your spare change? I do. I’ve worked at several rescue missions and met many homeless people in my stints in rehab. I know the mindset. I know the sickness. I’ve seen it up close and personal. I’ve lived it.

Yes, on both sides of the table.

If you want to be your brothers keeper don’t give them money and thereby enable them to stay in their misery. It’s no different from giving an alcoholic a bottle of liquor because you feel sorry that he has withdrawal symptoms. It’s quick and easy and gives you a momentary high but it’s not helping the person. Get involved with a local shelter or rescue mission. There your time and money can make a difference for a person who is ready to change.

For some a couple of dollars can keep them out of the gutter, give them a hand up not a handout.
On a personal level I am actively involved with several charities.
Agreeably, compassion needs to be tempered with wisdom, discernment.

 

[lelhajj]

I remember a few years ago, we were looking for a place to sit at the mass. I have always like to sit near the front rows to pay more attention to the mass without less distractions. I saw a place where there was only a poor man was sitting, a homeless one. Everyone have chosen not to sit near him. I decided to challenge myself, sat near that individual with his smelly and broken clothes, and i kept wondering: what about if this is Jesus in a disguise? when it was time to give peace to that poor man, i shook hands with him.
We keep forgetting that Jesus sometimes comes in the person of the poor and needy. We tend to reject those people in need. We feel very proud of who we are, we are arrogants. We certainly need to be more humble. I am not better than the homeless man that was there. I might even worse than him. That is the reason why it is easier for the poor to enter the gates of Heaven than for the rich to do so.

 

[ewsussek]

Joe

You ask if I have ever worked with the homeless. As a matter of fact, I have. I just came back from St. Francis Inn in Philadelphia. St. Francis Inn serves meals to between 250 and 400 people. Although there is no way to know who is homeless but it is clear that all have been marginalized by society.

What I learned from the Franciscans who run the Inn is not to judge anyone. Like St. Francis we should love unconditionally and help those in need.

It is not up to us to decide who is deserving of our help. Jesus said to love everyone no exceptions. Life becomes easier when we can accept this mission.

God’s love be with you

Ed

 

[centurionguard]

Joe

You ask if I have ever worked with the homeless. As a matter of fact, I have. I just came back from St. Francis Inn in Philadelphia. St. Francis Inn serves meals to between 250 and 400 people. Although there is no way to know who is homeless but it is clear that all have been marginalized by society.

What I learned from the Franciscans who run the Inn is not to judge anyone. Like St. Francis we should love unconditionally and help those in need.

It is not up to us to decide who is deserving of our help. Jesus said to love everyone no exceptions. Life becomes easier when we can accept this mission.

God’s love be with you

Ed

Simple, Clear, and Truthfully said.
Thanks for sharing.

What you said reminds me of words given by Mother Teresa of Calcutta.

ewtn.com/New_library/breakfast.htm

 

[jmcrae]

Right, but I guess my question is what does God say after this? (If he does indeed say this at all)

If every human being “got what he deserved” (as supposedly do the homeless), wouldn’t every human being be in hell?

Nobody in this thread is saying anything of the sort.

The debate is on how to help them; not between helping them, or saying they deserve their situation, so just leave them there.

If you give your spare change to the agencies who help the homeless, your money will go ten times further, and help ten men get a cup of coffee today, instead of just one, rather than giving directly to the homeless person, for whom it isn’t nearly enough to get him off the street.

To get one person off the street costs $5,000.00, and I strongly doubt that anyone here is going to give $5,000.00 in cash to a total stranger begging on the corner - you might give a dollar, or even two dollars - maybe if you are feeling especially generous, you might give a ten dollar bill, but not more than that.

What those of us who are saying “don’t give that money directly to them” are trying to say is, give that same dollar, or two dollars, or ten dollars, to your local homeless shelter or soup kitchen - support those ministries, and that way, your money will help not only that one beggar to get off the street, but will also contribute to helping many other street beggars, as well, since although one beggar can buy himself a meal at McDonald’s for $3.50, the people who run soup kitchens can buy the ingredients for several filling meals, for the same amount of money - they can, for example, get ten cans of tomato soup for five dollars and 5 loaves of bread for a dollar when they buy in bulk from SuperStore’s Wholesale division on one of their sale days, and feed 20 people with soup and toast for less money than what would be needed to feed two beggars on the street.

 

[josephdaniel29]

Joe

You ask if I have ever worked with the homeless. As a matter of fact, I have. I just came back from St. Francis Inn in Philadelphia. St. Francis Inn serves meals to between 250 and 400 people. Although there is no way to know who is homeless but it is clear that all have been marginalized by society.

What I learned from the Franciscans who run the Inn is not to judge anyone. Like St. Francis we should love unconditionally and help those in need.

It is not up to us to decide who is deserving of our help. Jesus said to love everyone no exceptions. Life becomes easier when we can accept this mission.

God’s love be with you

Ed

Good grief am I not expressing myself clearly?

I give up…

Yours in Christ
Joe

 

[josephdaniel29]

The debate is on how to help them; not between helping them, or saying they deserve their situation, so just leave them there.

I thought that had already been made abundantly clear several times. I don’t know if these people are just not reading the posts or if they haven’t been clear enough.

Yours in Christ
Joe

 

[royal_archer]

Which came first, the poverty/mental illness or the alcohol/drug habit as a form of escape from an uncomfortable situation?

If they are suffering from mental illness then they need someone taking care of them and helping them with there decisions. They also should not be voting if they are mentaly impared.