“The biographer of St. John the Almsgiver (ca. 550 – 616) said that the Patriarch of Alexandria upended traditional notions of power by calling the “poor and beggars” his “masters and helpers.” He even gave a double portion of alms to a man whom he knew to be a false beggar, saying, “perchance it is my Christ and He is making trial of me.” ”

– C. Christopher Smith & John Pattison in Slow Church p.199