It’s cold outside, very cold. And it’s usually this time of year when we wonder how the homeless survive. Several cities responding not to the cold but to the fear of the mentally ill who might be violent, are taking steps to use involuntary commitment as a means to reduce crime by homeless mentally ill persons.
There are serious ethical issues involved. Before the move toward deinstitutionalization, many states had large warehouse type hospitals where mentally ill and emotionally disturbed persons were treated for lack of a better word. Supposedly they were to be sent to live in group homes, but states didn’t adequately fund those services, and often localities objected to their presence.
But studies show that stable housing reduces not just homelessness but the prevalence of severe mental illness. As a society we seem to be more interested in protecting the rich from paying their fair share of taxes than providing stable housing to those who need it. If we take the words of the One we profess to follow, we need to house the homeless and care for the mentally ill and emotionally disturbed.
Prayer for the Day
Patient God, we confess our love is not what we would hope,
Focused on our own needs, the needs of others dim in our eyes
Transform our lives so we hear the world around us,
And help us respond to those who need us.
Open our hearts to your love and our ears to your word
In the name of him who came to show us your way,
Even Christ Jesus our Lord. Amen.
Thoughts for the Day
You can spend money on new housing for poor people and the homeless, or you can spend it on a football stadium or a golf course.
- Jello Biafra, stage name for singer, political activist
These things become the norm: that some homeless persons die of cold on the streets is not news. In contrast, a ten-point drop in the stock market is a tragedy.
- Pope Francis
Is this not the fast I choose: to loosen the bonds of injustice,
To undo the thongs of the yoke, to let the oppressed go free?
Is it not to share your bread with the hungry
And bring the homeless poor into your house;
When you see the naked, to cover them, and not to hide yourself from your own kin?
Isaiah 58: 6-7