we are all HYPOCRITES...and we know it!

maybe this comes as a shock to you...but the first step in finding a solution is admitting it! and now you are in denial "No...NOT ME". well I am here to tell you yes, even you! especially when it comes to panhandlers...yes the one on the street in town that you roll your window up to, when you happen to be stuck at the traffic light. am I painting the picture?


well a similar assessment happened yesterday at the parish I work at. it was a seemingly typical Sunday at the church. the a/c was working fine, the homilies were all different according to the style of each priest and deacon, and everything was fine and dandy until after the second mass. as we are processing out and I take my usual spot to greet the parishioners to say "have a nice week...see you next time". I noticed out of the corner of my eye a crowd was stirring outside. I quickly inch myself over in that direction to see what happened, thinking that possibly someone fainted outside or something due to humidity. there are a bunch of ladies huddling around the priest, sort of like a gossip circle and I hear "Father...would you allow this?". a few yards for this choice circle was a woman, clothed entirely in black, with a child helplessly clamped on to her dress. first thought wow, this woman must be insane to wear a black dress in the middle of July...and I look at her face and it is covered (probably to shade from the blistering sun) by a sign that states:

PLEASE HELP

I AM A SINGLE MOTHER WITH 4 KIDS AND I NEED TO PAY MY RENT

GOD BLESS YOU

what a great testament of faith. this is what Christ told his disciples, "the poor you will always have with you". We are called to be compassionate and generous people and here we have the ultimate test. directly after the mass many people passed straight by, some stopped to gossip, and some were generous enough to give a little something. I think it was a little off-setting to see, since it is a suburban parish...it is far from any inner-city. NEWSFLASH: poverty is EVERYWHERE, it knows no boundaries! but even within this circle there were advocates and condemners, one lady was adamant about "she is probably an impostor...how did she get here? she must have been driven".  which I agree could have been true, but should that really be a large factor in your generosity. I told her, "yes they may very well be true, but if she is...how sad it is that she would have to degrade herself to that level to get a few bucks...you should give what is on your heart, your conscience to give!" One lady was like, "well I give any chance I get, many are veterans and need help" (as she demonstratively pulled out her $5). Then another was so appalled she brought it up "father would you allow this?" and replied "what would you want me to do, push her and tell her she is not welcomed...that would be totally against the Gospel, what Christ calls us to do!" Once the people from the second mass left, the woman was gone...without a trace. maybe it was Christ? 

well after the third mass, she was there again and this time I saw her arrive...she came in a car and beckoned her "son" to come quick as the mass was nearly over. so she did not even bother to come inside...so I approached her and simply said hello. she was kind and replied in greeting and took her post near the doors. and the same thing happened again only this time....I was prepared! so after the mass again the woman and boy left, no trace. and more cars started to pull up...I'm thinking, you are too late for mass now folks and they were actually arriving from a nearby ATM to give to the woman. how beautiful! for every person who was so busy chastising her for being around, there were double that amount to give. one family asked if she could be added to a parish list for assistance. to make a long story short...in talking to one of the priests, I found out that this woman was actually a gypsy from Romania and this was a time in the area...WHAT A HOAX! so even though this lady was basically a nomadic panhandler and not in any REAL crisis. all this fuss was a great testament of faith and how much we truly LIVE and not just profess. this hearkens directly from scripture:

What good is it, my brothers, if someone says he has faith but does not have works? Can that faith save him? If a brother or sister is poorly clothed and lacking in daily food, and one of you says to them, “Go in peace, be warmed and filled,” without giving them the things needed for the body, what good is that? So also faith by itself, if it does not have works, is dead. But someone will say, “You have faith and I have works.” Show me your faith apart from your works, and I will show you my faith by my works. - James 2:14-18

Don't be that guy! LIVE OUT THE GOSPEL!