Damn. I hate changing my mind.
The New York Times has an editorial today: The Pope on Panhandling: Give Without Worry.
I know I do that judgemental thing. “They’re just scamming me. How do I know they really need the money? What if they spend it on drugs? Why should I get that guy money, and not everyone?”
Pope Francis’s answer is easy: don’t worry, just give to them. Here’s a translation from the Catholic News Service:
“There are many excuses” to justify why one doesn’t lend a hand when asked by a person begging on the street, he said in an interview published the day before the beginning of Lent.
But giving something to someone in need “is always right,” and it should be done with respect and compassion because “tossing money and not looking in (their) eyes is not a Christian” way of behaving, he said.
Later in the article, there’s this:
One thing people may tell themselves to feel better about not giving anything, the pope said, is “I give money and then he spends it on drinking a glass of wine.”
(I agree with the Times: that’s so Italian!)
But, the pope said, if “a glass of wine is the only happiness he has in life, that’s OK. Instead, ask yourself what do you do on the sly? What ‘happiness’ do you seek in secret?”
Or, another way to look at it, the pope said, is recognize how “you are luckier, with a house, a wife, children” and then ask why should the responsibility to help be pushed onto someone else.
He’s like today’s Anti-Republican. But I’m not sure whether I can be that good a man.
