Summer Series: #5 - Family

As I read through the Pentateuch I am continuously struck by the way I see God's care for the less fortunate. The laws of the Old Covenant aren't just pointless rules. They were created to give us a taste of God's Shalom, the way things were intended to be. Leviticus 25 is full of examples of God's concern for social justice. What really stood out for me, though, is the responsibility of family:

If one of your countrymen becomes poor and sells some of his property, his nearest relative is to come and redeem what his countryman has sold. -Leviticus 25:25

While society as a whole is charged to care for the poor, it is the family in particular that bears this responsibility. The word "some" in this verse makes me ask some questions. If a family member loses all of their property than it makes sense that I should help them out; but if they lose only part of it, it appears that God still expects me to step in and help out. What implications, if any, does this have for us today?