Shower the people

Big news -- so the pope's people were handing out food vouchers to the homeless in Rome. Nice, right? But one of them told them pope, "We can't use these because when we go to redeem them, we are turned away because we smell." Pope's solution? Build outdoor heated showers at the Vatican, give the homeless a change of underwear and a haircut, and send them out.

On the one hand, this is so awesome -- giving the homeless dignity and a leg up on the cruelty of the world.

But on the other hand, it's so sad -- why has such an obvious act of mercy not been considered before?

But full pops to Pope Francis for having broken down the procedural walls that keep us from acting as Christ would.

I can almost hear my conservative friends saying, "But what the Pope is doing is enabling the homeless. Without market incentives, they will never leave poverty!"Truth be told, homelessness is ugly enough that few would choose it as a lifestyle. Better for we Christians to assume that the homeless are that way because of need.

Pope Francis is a saint -- a living saint. May he lives for a thousand years!