Saint John touches upon a subject that was very important in the beginning days of the Church, namely, the importance of supporting those who travelled around to preach the Gospel. The prophets who moved from place to place were dependent upon the local Christians to welcome them into their home and give them food and a place to rest before moving on. St. John encourages them to help and support them, not only with food and shelter, but with the finances they need to continue their journey.

This is a beautiful teaching, but would you be surprised that people took advantage of it? Hey, people will pay my way to travel, wine and dine me at each stop, and I don’t have to really be a prophet at all. This became a real problem in the early Church. One writing, the Didache, which is generally dated around the year A.D. 70, said the following on this subject:

Let every Apostle who comes to you be received as the Lord, but let him not stay more than one day, or if need be a second as well; but if he stay three days, he is a false prophet. And when an Apostle goes forth let him accept nothing but bread till he reach his night's lodging; but if he ask for money, he is a false prophet.

When monasticism became a part of the life of the Church, the same problem raised its ugly head. There were monks who were called gyrovagues, monks who never settled anywhere or were under anyone’s authority. The word itself is pejorative. Gyro – circle and vagus – wandering referred to those who just wandered around in a circle, taking advantage of everyone.

The psalmist says, “Well for the man who is gracious and lends, who conducts his affairs with justice; He shall never be moved; the just one shall be in everlasting remembrance.” In our day we have experienced those who refuse to work but try to get you to give them money. For some, they have grown weary of this and begin to see everyone as liars and crooks. Panhandlers are looked upon with disgust. “I’m not giving them booze money. They’re standing on the corner with a cell phone and smoking a cigarette and they want me to give them money?” I have a priest friend who tells the story of serving the summer as a deacon in a parish far from his seminary. The local priest had told him not to give money to people who ask for help. After his very last Mass, before heading back to the seminary, he was locking the doors of the church when a car pulled up and a woman got out to ask for help. Her and her son were just about out of gas, and she was taking him to a job interview a little way down the road. Hmm, a job interview on a Sunday? My friend wanted to get home and pack for his trip back across the country to the seminary, so he reached in his wallet and gave her a ten dollar bill. She and her son drove off. After a week back at the seminary, he received a call from the pastor where he had served that summer. “Did you give a woman ten dollars after Mass last Sunday? Yes, Father, I shouldn’t have but I did.” The pastor said, “The woman and her son came back this Sunday and asked for you. After handing me a ten dollar bill, she asked me to tell you that they made it to the interview on time and her son had gotten the job, thanks to you.”

There are people who take advantage of the generosity of others. However, St. John and the psalmist encourage us to be generous. No matter what the motives are of those who ask for help, we will not be judged based on their motives but on whether or not we are kind and generous. The writer to the Hebrews says that we should practice hospitality. Who knows – it could be an angel that we are ministering to.