I am Ashamed to Beg
This week’s Gospel about the dishonest manager led me to wrestle with the words, “I am ashamed to beg.” Why, I wondered, should begging be shameful? The truth is, our culture has taught us not just that begging is shameful, but that poverty itself is a moral failing. Yet poverty, in most cases, is not the result of personal shortcomings but of broken systems—wages that don’t cover basic needs, policies that leave people vulnerable, and a society that shifts blame from structures to individuals. The shame, then, isn’t in begging—it’s in our collective failure to ensure no one has to. As followers of Jesus, we’re called to respond not only with charity, meeting immediate needs, but with justice, reshaping the systems that keep people in poverty. My prayer is that we find the courage to confront these cultural stigmas, extend both compassion and advocacy, and work toward a world where no one needs to beg.
