The sight of beggars in the street is common in our cities, despite by-laws often making begging illegal. Many people find such a situation awkward or embarrassing, yet the Gospel teaches us how to respond

my wife has the deeply embarrassing practice of giving money to beggars. Just as Ambrose of Milan would not return home until he had given away all the coins in his pocket, so we frequently find ourselves with insufficient cash for the car park or a cup of tea because it has already been given away.

But when I say “embarrassing” I don’t really mean it. I mean challenging. I mean I wish I had the same impulse written into my DNA. On a recent short break in a lovely city, my wife went on her habitual walk to get some change for the car park. She came back extremely wound up and said in real anger: “I’ve just discovered that it’s illegal to beg here!” She had come across a man sitting in a doorway and offered him some cash. He said in response: “You can give it to me but I can’t ask for it. Begging is illegal here.”

It is genuinely disconcerting that there is a national attempt to whitewash the poor out of daily experience. When I was in Addis Ababa many years ago in the run-up to a meeting of the African Union, buses did the rounds a few days before the conference picking up all the beggars and taking them for a several-days walk out of the city to ensure that they would not be visible during the proceedings. But in this lovely English city where we were staying it felt even worse.