"And when people shame you by refusing you alms, you should give thanks to God for that, because in recompense for shame we receive great honor before the judgment seat of our Lord Jesus Christ. And you should know that shame is imputed not to the one who suffers it, but to the one who inflicts it. And alms are the inheritance and the justice due the poor which our Lord Jesus Christ acquired for us. You who labor to acquire alms, then, have a great reward and also enrich those who give to you; for everything that people leave behind in the world will perish, but for the charity and almsgiving they've practiced they will have their reward from the Lord." --Rule of 1221, Chapter IXYou may not go out begging alms for the poor as St. Francis and his brothers did, but if you take a stand for policies that help the poor you often put yourself in the same position to be ridiculed and shamed for being "liberal." Do not let this bother you for in the end the one who shames shall be the one feeling shame when they stand before the Lord and hear Him say, "Depart from Me.....for I was hungry, and you gave Me nothing to eat; I was thirsty, and you gave Me nothing to drink; I was a stranger, and you did not invite Me in; naked, and you did not clothe Me; sick, and in prison, and you did not visit Me." (see Matthew 25:35-43)
