Charity: To give or not to give?

[RosieGirl]

So I’m currently reading “Mere Christianity”, by C.S. Lewis. He states that “if our expenditure on conforts, luxuries, amusments, etc.is up to the standard common among those with the same income as our own, we are probably giving away too little. If our charities do not at all pinch or hamper us, I should say they are too small.”

What do you think about this? Other than tithing to our parish, as christians, what are we expected to give? And if we are to give, who do we give too? So many of the charities that I would want to give to, I feel I’m obligated NOT to give to. The majority of charities that focus on children and families, especially in third world countries, are not on side with Catholics who do not believe in birth control, most have some family planning implemented in their aid.

 

[Tom]

The priest at our parish gave an absolutely wonderful speech to us on stewardship one year. Imagine, the annual money talk from the Church, he stood up and gave the usual we owe God talk then said quite forcefully, this year I do not want any money from any of you! What I want is you!!! Your talents, your time, your prayers, your involvement. We were all a little in shock, and he continued, think of an amount of time you should devote to your God every day. 10% of the day, 20% of the day? Out of 24 hours, should you give the Lord two and a half maybe five hours a day? What is fair to return to your God? Then he continued, what if we simply couldn’t give our time, after all life is hectic, so if we couldn’t give our time, we should be willing to hire someone to do the job for us. Simple reasoning isn’t it? O.k. so lets say 3 hours a day seven days a week, subtract the one hour for mass, that leaves us 20 hours per week. Now since it’s our time we should be willing to give at the rate we receive correct? So, determine your hourly wage, include all the benefits if applicable, multiply by 20 and that should be your weekly “tithe”. He continued on he was quite serious in not wanting our money, he really did want us physically, and we should give money only if it were utterly impossible for us to devote the time. Not only did the amount of volunteers increase but donations went up also.

 

[space_ghost]

what you do for the least of my people you do to me…

don’t be a scrooge!

http://duckman.pettho.com/characters/scrooge.jpg

 

[Ana]

Food for the Poor is a wonderful Catholic Charity. They care for the poor in third world countries, with a very strict account of how the money is spent.

 

[goravens]

I admit this is a struggle for me as well. We tithe regularly and on occasion give to some charities. Our favorites are Catholic Charities and Covenant House to give you a couple ideas. I know we need to give more, and there’s plenty we could do without. I want to give more - the spirit is willing but the flesh is weak. To help with this, I’ve been reading about living more simply. John Michael Talbot has a good book out on St. Francis which gave me some new perspectives on simplicity and living with less. That and God’s grace will hopefully open my heart to giving more.

Catholic Relief Services and DATA are both good organizations that go into Africa (and CRS is in other countries too.) You can search for any of these organizations on google and see if they look like ones you’re interested in donating to.

 

[puzzleannie]

we have tithed since we were married, and priest suggested a tithe of 10 percent, half to the church, half to other charities, so we have done this for 36 years. In practice, my husband tithes his income to the church, I tithe mine to very selectively chosen charities of which we have personal knowledge as to their operations and leadership.

We also tithe spending, for instance, if I am spending 100 on household furnishings, buy a blanket for 10 for blanket Sunday benefiting the homeless shelter. If I am spending 50 on groceries, buy 5 worth of canned food for hunger center.

we have also tithed our estate, so that about 5 percent will go to church institutions and 5 percent to Catholic Charities

I don’t know if this is kosher, but we apply our tithe to after tax income, figuring that our taxes go to pay for things that were covered by tithing in biblical times.

 

[sparkle]

RosieGirl:

So I’m currently reading “Mere Christianity”, by C.S. Lewis. He states that “if our expenditure on conforts, luxuries, amusments, etc.is up to the standard common among those with the same income as our own, we are probably giving away too little. If our charities do not at all pinch or hamper us, I should say they are too small.”
What do you think about this? Other than tithing to our parish, as christians, what are we expected to give? And if we are to give, who do we give too? So many of the charities that I would want to give to, I feel I’m obligated NOT to give to. The majority of charities that focus on children and families, especially in third world countries, are not on side with Catholics who do not believe in birth control, most have some family planning implemented in their aid.

Well–I think tithing 10% of our “first fruits” is what God wants, and I guess to our parish is where it should go. However, I know charity could be in other forms too, not just the Church. The whole point is no matter how much or how little we have, there is always someone who needs our help, whether it be in monetary means, or perhaps just a word of encouragement, a thoughtful jesture such as bringing our neighbor a cake or a bottle of wine for a B-day–or dropping off some McDonalds hamburgers to the local bums hanging around. (We do this occasionally–and kids love doing it). Have a friend who made and brought a whole turkey with plates and forks to the bums hanging out at the local 7/11). I think that’s just awesome.

There’s always someone who needs us and God’s love shining thru us TODAY. Don’t y’all think? And just give where you feel called to. Maybe it’s to the Humane Society, maybe Greenpeace, wherever. Of course you want to give to a cause which is what you believe in and where God calls you to give. But the point is, to give to the less fortunate.

Blessings~~

 

[wisdom_3_5]

We take 10% of our gross income and break it up between the Church, catholic schools (not tuition) catholic charities and we sponsor a child through CFCA. (I’m thinking we need to include Catholic Answers and EWTN sometime soon). We don’t tithe on purchases but will tithe on money gifts (like b-day money from Grandma etc).

We do feel a pinch, pretty much monthly, but ya’ know we haven’t missed paying a bill or had to go without food/heat etc. This has been, and continues to be, a difficult area for me to turn over to God. However, I know that I’m better off than many people and what little I can offer is a great deal to them.

 

[sparkle]

wisdom 3:5:

We take 10% of our gross income and break it up between the Church, catholic schools (not tuition) catholic charities and we sponsor a child through CFCA. (I’m thinking we need to include Catholic Answers and EWTN sometime soon). We don’t tithe on purchases but will tithe on money gifts (like b-day money from Grandma etc).

We do feel a pinch, pretty much monthly, but ya’ know we haven’t missed paying a bill or had to go without food/heat etc. This has been, and continues to be, a difficult area for me to turn over to God. However, I know that I’m better off than many people and what little I can offer is a great deal to them.

God Bless You Wisdom 3:5!!!