Catholic and Enjoying It!
with the question, “Who are the poor I’m supposed to care for?”
It’s a question I struggle with too, simply because the need overwhelms my meager resources.
On the one hand, I am coming to agree with Dorothy Day’s pithy remark that “The Gospel takes away our right forever, to discriminate between the deserving and the undeserving poor.” I note that Jesus certainly confirms this by putting no qualifications on almsgiving and, in fact, coupling it with the troubling demand that we make a special point of being generous to people who are trying to rip us off:
“You have heard that it was said, ‘An eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth.’ 39 ¶ But I say to you, Do not resist one who is evil. But if any one strikes you on the right cheek, turn to him the other also; 40 and if any one would sue you and take your coat, let him have your cloak as well; 41 and if any one forces you to go one mile, go with him two miles. 42 Give to him who begs from you, and do not refuse him who would borrow from you. (Mt 5:38–42).
But what about that business about “If a man will not work he shall not eat”?
That’s Paul’s command to the Church at Thessalonica and is directed to Christians within the household of faith. It is aimed at layabouts who are so focused on the Second Coming that they don’t pull their weight and act with generosity out of their earnings. But Jesus is speaking of our approach to all those we meet in the wide world. He, very simply, tells us to give to *whoever* asks without any qualifications at all.
Yikes.
Of course, prudence very soon has to enter into how to do that since most of us aren’t made of money. But it looks to me like calculations besides “deserving” vs. “undeserving” are at the bottom of Jesus’ thought. How to navigate that, I am not sure. But I think it needs to be wrestled with and I think it’s good that Steve is doing so. He’s a good man.
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