1rst Bank of Tulsa-South Bend Branch

I've been really tired the last few days, but I do plan on getting back to the gifts of the Spirit soon.

I had Father bless a scapular and a couple medals for me Sunday. I started to talk to him after getting my items blessed. But he had to interrupt me to talk to someone whom he saw give money to a panhandler.

He told the person not to be giving to panhandlers-especially in the inner city area like around St. Patrick's. Father said that if we do that the beggars will keep coming around and expecting more handouts. Not only can this be a real nuisance, but the people getting the money are very likely to use it for drugs and alcohol-not for food and gasoline like they may tell us.

Father said that these beggars would pester the women who come to the church for a nocturnal adoration and ask them for money. And they would then go to other churches and ask for money.

He also admitted to making the mistake of giving money to panhandlers at the parish he was assigned to in Tulsa, Oklahoma. But the other priest told him to stop it. And if we give money to panhandlers near St. Patrick's that that will make our church "the Bank of Tulsa."

He said we should offer food if that's what they're asking for-if we give them that they can eat instead of having the money to buy drugs. And some appear to be quite ungrateful and say, "I'd rather have the money!" And this can be an indicator that the money is being used for something other than food.

In fact I just ordered a value meal at Burger King when someone came up to me a few years ago to ask for money. I would not give it to him; instead I offered him half a bag of French fries. He didn't want the fries-he wanted the money! That made me even more suspicious he was looking for drug money not food!

I used to have a problem with neighbors going to my door or calling me to ask for cans of soda and money at all hours of the day and night (almost.) In fact the requests came so close together that I'd be kept busy with neighbors for 20 minutes straight before I could get any thing done in my apartment. I'm a very disorganized packrat with Attention
Deficit Disorder and need every minute I can get to organize my place-and the knocks and the phone ringing all the time caused me to lose my train of thought. And one of the smokers kept returning and asking for cigarette money after I said "no." I really wished that the landlord would do something to force these neighbors to leave me alone or offer me another place to live. But he wouldn't do it.

I've been advised to let the answering machine take all the calls-but I had so many hangups that I didn't think the telemarketers were the only people hanging up. I suspected that both people I wanted to hear from and the moochers in the building were hanging up on the machine as well. I finally ended up getting caller ID-even if it cost me an extra $10 a month.

I wish that I had known Father back in 2003 when the begging in my building started to get out of hand. It would have saved me a lot of headaches and I wouldn't have felt obliged to neighbors who were trying to satisfy cravings for cigarettes and other things that were bad for their health-and mine!

More Experiences With the Brown Scapular

When I was in college I used to date a young man from a Catholic family. I have met both of his parents and his younger sister. But I didn't get to meet his older sister at the time.

In fact, I thought my date told me the family disowned her because she got a divorce and remarried. I was concerned about her and her salvation and I think I even prayed that she'd repent from her sin and go to Heaven.

About 11 years ago I did finally get to meet her. She was standing next to her younger sister. I found out both sisters, their brother (the one I dated) and their mother were all alcoholics.

I saw her again-this time on a very regular basis-almost 2 years ago. She told me about what had happened. She got pregnant by her boyfriend and her father made her marry him. He was an alcoholic himself and never seemed to be able to get his life straightened around.

She was able to have that marriage annulled by the Church and then married another alcoholic who was also a loser. She divorced him too, got that marriage annulled, and married a sober alcoholic.

By that time she was sober herself. She and I were on the subject of the Brown Scapular and I found out she had enrolled in it at the time of her First Communion.

But she no longer had the Scapular. So I gave her one in mint condition which I had been keeping in a drawer. A few months later she passed away. And I hope that she wore the Scapular that I had given her at the time of her death. I believe that the Lord has answered my prayer and saved my friend's sister's soul.