a beggar? At church?

Cory and I have been trying out new churches the past few weeks. We've been talking about doing it since we've moved down here but have been putting it off and have ended up at Christ the Redeemer (where we got married) on Sundays. This past week went to a church close enough to to our apartment that we were able to ride our bikes there, which was really nice. the church was ok, we didn't realize that the priest was a guest that week until the end, which makes all the difference because the priest was the same person that married our friends last summer at another church and we didn't really care for him then either. We will most likely go back so that we can see how we like it with the regular priest.

When we were leaving church we saw something that we did not expect to see, especially at church. It was a beggar. She was holding a sign that read "I have 5 kids and have no job, need mone for food and clothes" (yes, money was spelled wrong) I was a little astonished because who holds a sign outside of church like that, AND on top of that, she had her kids stationed around the parking lot and at all the exists holding signs! I think there are much better ways to get money if you are in need of it then begging out side of church when everyone is leaving like going and talking to the pastor to see if he can help. I think what she was doing was almost taking advantage of all of the people leaving because she knew that they would be in a more generous mood and more likely to give money after church. oh and no, she wasn't there before mass started either.