2008 Woodie Awards
Reconcile the gates of heaven with the gated campus
John J. Ammann
Issue date: 4/11/08 Section: Commentary
You're walking across campus on your way to your 9 a.m. class when you encounter a homeless man -or at least he looks homeless, but how would you know? It's a cold morning. He asks for 50 cents to buy coffee.
You look away and keep on walking. You head for the coffee shop in Busch Student Center for your $3 latte, and in front of you is your professor for your 9 a.m. class. He's fumbling for change because he's 50 cents short to pay for his coffee and sweet roll. You hand him 50 cents to help him avoid his embarrassment (and maybe to help your grade). He thanks you, but you think nothing of it.
Your professor could well afford to buy his own coffee; the homeless man could not. Why did you choose to help the one who least needed your assistance? Too often we are afraid to help those who need it most because we make judgments about whether they are worthy of our charity, or because we fear that they'll use our charity to buy booze or drugs.
Saint Louis University's location in an urban setting provides many opportunities for our students, faculty and staff to study urban issues, to search for sustainable solutions to urban problems and to provide services to those in need. However, often we are afraid to look into the eyes of the homeless whom we find on campus. Our University motto is "men and women for others." The motto is not "men and women for others whom we deem worthy of our assistance."
Likewise, Christ said, "Give to all who beg of you." He did not say, "Give to all who beg after you do a background check and ensure that they have legitimate need and will use your donation for only good things and will become self-sufficient immediately and will be forever grateful to you."
Many of our fears of directly meeting and helping the homeless are unfounded. Many of the homeless in St. Louis are veterans. Many of them are working. Many are moms who are the victims of domestic violence with nowhere to turn. Yes, it is important to be careful when dealing with any strangers, but why are we so cautious about meeting and helping the homeless person on our own campus, while faculty and students have no trepidation about traveling to South America on a service trip to help the poor in a foreign country? We should encourage such trips, but not while disregarding the poor on sidewalks near the University.
SLU is a great place to study systemic solutions to address poverty and homelessness, but we must also meet the daily needs of those we encounter, and through the many great programs we do. Just recently, the University sponsored Homeless Awareness Week and held its annual Open Doors event, where hundreds of homeless people received a free meal, free clothing, free legal assistance and other services at the Simon Recreation Center.
We also have many great clinics on campus that provide direct assistance every day including medical and legal clinics, while the St. Francis XavierCollege Church and its ministries provide dozens of people with the needs of daily life, and the Campus Kitchen serves meals to many people everyday. These programs recognize that one of the corporal works of mercy is to "feed the hungry," and that it isn't to "end hunger."
However, when face-to-face with a homeless person, our ability to give and to serve seems like a distant virtue.
If one wants to contend that we should not provide direct financial assistance to homeless people because they might misuse the money, then we need to raise other questions. Should we stop providing scholarship money to students who use the money they've saved on tuition to buy beer for the party on Friday night? Should the University stop providing health insurance coverage for the faculty member who smokes pot or drinks too much? The middle class benefits from countless double standards of this nature.
The homeless we encounter around campus are, in reality, God's gift to us, just as the poor are wherever we find them. Indeed, they are God's presence among us. For Christ said, "Whatsoever you do to the least of my brothers, that you do unto me" (Matthew 25:40).
Indeed, the welcoming committee at heaven's gate is not made up of pro athletes, movie stars or celebrities. The guys with St. Peter at heaven's gate are the homeless and others who were the least among us, according to society's standards. When we reach the pearly gates and St. Peter turns to the welcoming committee to see if we should be admitted, let's hope one of the homeless guys recognizes us.
John J. Ammann is a professor in the Saint Louis University.School of Law.
You look away and keep on walking. You head for the coffee shop in Busch Student Center for your $3 latte, and in front of you is your professor for your 9 a.m. class. He's fumbling for change because he's 50 cents short to pay for his coffee and sweet roll. You hand him 50 cents to help him avoid his embarrassment (and maybe to help your grade). He thanks you, but you think nothing of it.
Your professor could well afford to buy his own coffee; the homeless man could not. Why did you choose to help the one who least needed your assistance? Too often we are afraid to help those who need it most because we make judgments about whether they are worthy of our charity, or because we fear that they'll use our charity to buy booze or drugs.
Saint Louis University's location in an urban setting provides many opportunities for our students, faculty and staff to study urban issues, to search for sustainable solutions to urban problems and to provide services to those in need. However, often we are afraid to look into the eyes of the homeless whom we find on campus. Our University motto is "men and women for others." The motto is not "men and women for others whom we deem worthy of our assistance."
Likewise, Christ said, "Give to all who beg of you." He did not say, "Give to all who beg after you do a background check and ensure that they have legitimate need and will use your donation for only good things and will become self-sufficient immediately and will be forever grateful to you."
Many of our fears of directly meeting and helping the homeless are unfounded. Many of the homeless in St. Louis are veterans. Many of them are working. Many are moms who are the victims of domestic violence with nowhere to turn. Yes, it is important to be careful when dealing with any strangers, but why are we so cautious about meeting and helping the homeless person on our own campus, while faculty and students have no trepidation about traveling to South America on a service trip to help the poor in a foreign country? We should encourage such trips, but not while disregarding the poor on sidewalks near the University.
SLU is a great place to study systemic solutions to address poverty and homelessness, but we must also meet the daily needs of those we encounter, and through the many great programs we do. Just recently, the University sponsored Homeless Awareness Week and held its annual Open Doors event, where hundreds of homeless people received a free meal, free clothing, free legal assistance and other services at the Simon Recreation Center.
We also have many great clinics on campus that provide direct assistance every day including medical and legal clinics, while the St. Francis XavierCollege Church and its ministries provide dozens of people with the needs of daily life, and the Campus Kitchen serves meals to many people everyday. These programs recognize that one of the corporal works of mercy is to "feed the hungry," and that it isn't to "end hunger."
However, when face-to-face with a homeless person, our ability to give and to serve seems like a distant virtue.
If one wants to contend that we should not provide direct financial assistance to homeless people because they might misuse the money, then we need to raise other questions. Should we stop providing scholarship money to students who use the money they've saved on tuition to buy beer for the party on Friday night? Should the University stop providing health insurance coverage for the faculty member who smokes pot or drinks too much? The middle class benefits from countless double standards of this nature.
The homeless we encounter around campus are, in reality, God's gift to us, just as the poor are wherever we find them. Indeed, they are God's presence among us. For Christ said, "Whatsoever you do to the least of my brothers, that you do unto me" (Matthew 25:40).
Indeed, the welcoming committee at heaven's gate is not made up of pro athletes, movie stars or celebrities. The guys with St. Peter at heaven's gate are the homeless and others who were the least among us, according to society's standards. When we reach the pearly gates and St. Peter turns to the welcoming committee to see if we should be admitted, let's hope one of the homeless guys recognizes us.
John J. Ammann is a professor in the Saint Louis University.School of Law.
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