Does everyone need help?translated

Reader question:

Hello. Should everyone who asks need help? The Bible says, “Give to him who asks of you.” But is it for everyone? And if I once passed by and didn’t help, what should I do? I try to help as much as I can. If someone asks for help on the street or in a shopping center, and I pass by, will I hear from the Lord: “Depart from Me, you workers of iniquity”?

Margarita

Priest's answer:

Archpriest Andrey EFANOV

Dear Margarita, even in ancient times, a prudent attitude towards alms was welcomed. “Let alms sweat in your hands until you know to whom you are giving” (Didache). And a little later, St. Basil the Great teaches: “It takes experience to distinguish those who are truly in need from those who ask out of covetousness. He who gives to those oppressed by poverty gives to the Lord, and whoever gives to anyone passing by, throws it to the dog, which bothers him with his persistence, but does not arouse pity with his poverty.”

It is one situation when, out of greed, we do not help someone in need, and quite another when we pass by professional beggars. Previously, not helping a beggar often meant dooming him to starvation. Now the state provides pensions and social benefits to those in need. But not all...