TITHING AND SACRIFICIAL
GIVING
Pope
Francis has announced that the traditional tithe amount of 10%, which has been
in place since Old Testament Biblical times, will creep up by 1% - the first
increase in a Millennia! (Chris
McKerracher.sagenews.com)
Could you please tell me
more about what the Catholic Church believes about tithing?
Tithing
is first mentioned in the books of the Old Testament and represents a 10
percent sacrificial gift of one’s produce or income for the benefit of the
worship of God by maintenance of the temple and the priests caring for temple
worship. Tithing represents a sacrifice,
and a sacrifice is one of the acts of the virtue of religion, the others being
prayer, adoration, and worship. All
peoples in all times in all religions that acknowledge an infinite being have
recognized the intrinsic need of sacrificial offering to God. In the Christian tradition, the Sacrifice of
the Mass is the sacrifice par excellence!
A
sacrifice offered to God awakens the soul and sharpens the spiritual powers of
perception. Sacrifice is to prayer, what
a magnifying glass is to sunlight: it
intensifies the power. Sacrifice is a proof
of faith and trust in God, as well as a demonstration of love for God. Anyone who loves another is always willing to
make a sacrifice for the good of the other.
Not
everyone is able to give 10 percent of their income to the Church or to
charity, some can give more, others can give less, but it is necessary that
everyone make a sacrificial offering on a regular basis, and a sacrificial
offering is one that you can feel.
Tithing is one way to fulfil the fifth precept of the Church: “You shall help to provide for the needs of
the Church.”
On
occasion a young man may tell me that he does not get much out of the Mass. While there may be subjective reasons for
this (bad music, bland preaching, confusing architecture, empty stomach), more
often the determining factors are subjective (lack of grace, lack of faith,
lack of sacrifice). Archbishop Fulton
Sheen famously quipped “You don’t get much out of Mass because you don’t bring
much to it”. If you want to enhance the
fruitfulness of your participation in Mass, just bring a generous sacrifice.
Rev. Francis J. Hoffman,
JCD (Fr. Rocky) is Executive Director of Relevant Radio. Ordained as a priest for Opus Dei in 1992 by
St John Paul II, he holds a doctorate in canon law.
Why don’t we read about the
tithe in the New Testament?
Jesus
actually called his followers to a standard of giving that went far beyond the
tithe. He called us to give up everything and follow Him. The early Christians were able to do this. However, as the Church expanded throughout
the world its followers needed to be reminded that generous giving is a
hallmark of the Judeo-Christian tradition.
The Church Council of Macon in 585 A.D. ordered payment of tithes. In the 8th Century, Charlemagne
made tithing to the Church a civil law.
The Council of Trent (1545-1563) also reiterated the call to tithe.
Is tithing still necessary
in the Catholic Church today?
Tithing
is absolutely still necessary in the Catholic Church today. When God introduced the concept of the tithe
in the Old Testament, He told the Israelites this contribution was necessary
from them to support the work of the Levites and the poor in the community. Today our Church still needs our support to
pay the expenses and financial obligations it incurs as it operates in a
commercial society. Salaries, benefits,
insurance, maintenance, utilities and service fees are all expenses that never
existed when Our Lord first decreed that each of us was to give back a
percentage of what we have.
Additionally, we are still called to care for the poor among us. (Archdiocese of St. Louis, USA)
Why does the Church often
refer to tithing as “giving back?”
Throughout
the sacred scripture God tells us that everything belongs to God. He made the world and all that is in it. He made us and blessed us with absolutely
every gift we have. Our lives, our
families, our health, our education, our unique talents and skills, our job and
our income are all blessings from God, entrusted into our care for the good of
all peoples. Thus, when we tithe we are
really only giving back 10% of something that ultimately belongs to God
anyway. The amazing thing is that our
God is a generous and abundant God who lets us keep and enjoy 90% of all His
blessings.
WEBSITES:
Vaticanraising/tithe
amount to 11%\www.sagenews.com\catholic encyclopedia tithes\catholic principles
of tithing (oblates and missionaries of St Michael) FAQ’S about tithing
(Archbishop of St Louis)
SCRIPTURE:
“Bring
the full tithes and dues to the store house so that there may be food in my
house, and then see if I do not open the flood gates of heaven for you and pour
out blessings for you in abundance” (MALACHI 3:10)
“Honour
the Lord with generosity, do not stint the first fruits you bring. Add a smiling face to all your gifts, and be
cheerful as you dedicate your tithes.
Give to the Most High as He has given to you, generously as your means
can afford; for the Lord is a good rewarder. He will reward you seven times
over”. (ECCLESIASTICUS 35:7-10)
TITHES:
“As
regards the Lordship of Jesus Christ, Scott and I took Christ’s Lordship over
our lives very seriously. In terms of
money, we tithed regularly no matter how tight funds were, because we wanted to
be good stewards of the money that we had put in our care. Over and over we had seen the Lord meet our
needs beyond what we had given to Him”. (Scott and Kimberley Hahn)
PERSONAL PLEDGE / TITHE
Name:
______________________________________________________________________________
Pledge
number: (if already assigned) _________________________________________
Tel./Cell
number: _________________________________________________________
Amount
pledged:
R_______________________________________________________
Per: week / month / quarter
(circle the one you choose)
Signed:
__________________________________________________________
Date:
___________________________________________________________
N.B. Should you prefer to deposit your
contribution directly into the parish bank account, the details are in the
newsletter.
“Each
one should give as much as he/she has decided on his/her own initiative, not
reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver.”
(2
Corinthians 9:7).
“Every act done in bad faith is a sin”. (Rom. 14:23)
