Contribution to church

[josethekke]

Mathew38,35-36/"I was hungry you fed me,thirsy you gave me a drink;I was a stranger and you received me in your homes.naked you clothed me; in prison and you visited me"Here(syro-malbar rite) a lot of mney is being collected in each parish now demanding 1/10th of the income These income are utiliezd for the construction of big budgeted churches,parishall schools and colleges hospitals.These are needed for the progress of the community.But some unfortnate parshonners also living in the same loclity who is sick ,no house ,unable to meet the marriage expenses of their daughter unable to meet the education expenses of their children nobody seems to bother so material development of the community and development of less privilaged
should go hand in hand

 

[tobinatorstark]

I would think the less fortunate would be exempt. I don’t give that much money to the church as I get laid off every year and I don’t make squat. I contribute to the church in other ways than money could ever do. I am an usher, adult server and participate in the adoration. They are extremely grateful. The other parish members know I don’t have a lot of money and don’t hold that against me. I would hope that the parish would do something for the less fortunate such as eucharistic ministry to the sick and meals on wheel, etc.

 

[allana]

Mathew38,35-36/"I was hungry you fed me,thirsy you gave me a drink;I was a stranger and you received me in your homes.naked you clothed me; in prison and you visited me"Here(syro-malbar rite)

In my country this i see thi being fullfilled this as much as possible, we have orphanages, children’s homes, halfway homes etc, run by the Catholic Board. My parish has chooses Thursdays to feed the poor by having the homeless and poor in a ‘soup kitchen’ the food is supplied and the meal is prepared by volunteers. On the other days, non perishable goods, clothes, second handed and new school books are collected, and distributed to our needy parishoners.

a lot of mney is being collected in each parish now demanding 1/10th of the income I never heard of the church DEMANDING this, my 1/10 contributions are in the form of donations in the form of food, clothing and voluntary sevices. These income are utiliezd for the construction of big budgeted churches,parishall schools and colleges hospitals.These are needed for the progress of the community.But some unfortnate parshonners also living in the same loclity who is sick ,no house ,unable to meet the marriage expenses of their daughter unable to meet the education expenses of their children nobody seems to bother so material development of the community and development of less privilaged
should go hand in hand

Is your parish aware of this family’s situation? Is she attending one of these ‘parishall schools and colleges’ you mentioned? During my school years i also was in a similar situation,and i joined the school’s help programme, and thus was able to obtained books, uniform, and travelling money to attend school and to seek medical attention when needed.

You cant expect the Church to visit each home and ask if you need the help, that will take forever depending on how many people reside there…the point of having these ‘community utilities’ is for the needy to come in search of the help.

 

[Trishie]

Josethekke, yes some families are under enormous financial stress and an amount, a percentage, to be demanded regardless of circumstances, is not right. I think that would come under some sensure from the Church, that any parish demands many in such a way for 10% of their income when individuals and families can barely cope financially. I would question the parish’s right to make such a demand. I understand that parish’s have needs and wishes, but if the Church of Jesus who was born in an animal shelter, was a refugee in Egypt, had “nowhere to lay My head”…cannot consider and care for the pooer of us, then it departs from Christliness.

In my country nothing is 'demanded." It is simply understood that people will give what they can.

I’ll look up the exact text later, but remember how Jesus praised the gift of the poor woman. He said that though she ha given the smallest of coins to the temple treasury, she had given more than all the rest who gave money to the temple, because she gave of the little she had. Jesus surely had the right perspective on issues!
“Each one should give what he has decided in his own mind, **not **grudgingly or because he is made to, ‘for God loves a cheerful giver.’” [Proverbs 28:2]

“Lord, when did we see You hungry and feed You; or thirsty and give You drink? When did we see You a stranger and make You welcome; naked and clothe You; sick or in prison and go to see You?” Jesus replies “I tell you solemnly, in so far as you did this to one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did it to me.” “In so far as you neglected to do this to one of the least, you neglected to do it to me.” [Matthew 25:37-40, 45-46]

“Is there a poor brother among you, one of your brothers, in any town of yours? Do not harden your heart or close your hand against that poor brother of yours, but be open-handed with him.” [Deuteronomy 15:7-8]

]“Cease to do evil. Learn to do good, search for justice, help the oppressed, be just to the orphan, and plead for the widow. Though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow.” [Isaiah 1:17-18]

 

[allana]

This is what our Catechism says about our Church and the Poor:

LOVE FOR THE POOR

2443 God blesses those who come to the aid of the poor and rebukes those who turn away from them: “Give to him who begs from you, do not refuse him who would borrow from you”; “you received without pay, give without pay.”[231] It is by what they have done for the poor that Jesus Christ will recognize his chosen ones.[232] When “the poor have the good news preached to them,” it is the sign of Christ’s presence.[233]

2444 “The Church’s love for the poor . . . is a part of her constant tradition.” This love is inspired by the Gospel of the Beatitudes, of the poverty of Jesus, and of his concern for the poor.[234] Love for the poor is even one of the motives for the duty of working so as to “be able to give to those in need.”[235] It extends not only to material poverty but also to the many forms of cultural and religious poverty.[236]

2445 Love for the poor is incompatible with immoderate love of riches or their selfish use:
Come now, you rich, weep and howl for the miseries that are coming upon you. Your riches have rotted and your garments are moth-eaten. Your gold and silver have rusted, and their rust will be evidence against you and will eat your flesh like fire. You have laid up treasure for the last days. Behold, the wages of the laborers who mowed your fields, which you kept back by fraud, cry out; and the cries of the harvesters have reached the ears of the Lord of hosts. You have lived on the earth in luxury and in pleasure; you have fattened your hearts in a day of slaughter. You have condemned, you have killed the righteous man; he does not resist you.[237]

2446 St. John Chrysostom vigorously recalls this: “**Not to enable the poor to share in our goods is to steal from them and deprive them of life. The goods we possess are not ours, but theirs.”**238] “The demands of justice must be satisfied first of all; that which is already due in justice is not to be offered as a gift of charity”:[239]
When we attend to the needs of those in want, we give them what is theirs, not ours. More than performing works of mercy, we are paying a debt of justice.[240]

2447 The works of mercy are charitable actions by which we come to the aid of our neighbor in his spiritual and bodily necessities.[241] Instructing, advising, consoling, comforting are spiritual works of mercy, as are forgiving and bearing wrongs patiently. The corporal works of mercy consist especially in feeding the hungry, sheltering the homeless, clothing the naked, visiting the sick and imprisoned, and burying the dead.[242] Among all these, giving alms to the poor is one of the chief witnesses to fraternal charity: it is also a work of justice pleasing to God:[243]
He who has two coats, let him share with him who has none and he who has food must do likewise.[244] But give for alms those things which are within; and behold, everything is clean for you.[245] If a brother or sister is ill-clad and in lack of daily food, and one of you says to them, “Go in peace, be warmed and filled,” without giving them the things needed for the body, what does it profit?[246]

2448 “In its various forms - material deprivation, unjust oppression, physical and psychological illness and death - human misery is the obvious sign of the inherited condition of frailty and need for salvation in which man finds himself as a consequence of original sin. This misery elicited the compassion of Christ the Savior, who willingly took it upon himself and identified himself with the least of his brethren. Hence, those who are oppressed by poverty are the object of a preferential love on the part of the Church which, since her origin and in spite of the failings of many of her members, has not ceased to work for their relief, defense, and liberation through numerous works of charity which remain indispensable always and everywhere.”[247]

2449 Beginning with the Old Testament, all kinds of juridical measures (the jubilee year of forgiveness of debts, prohibition of loans at interest and the keeping of collateral, the obligation to tithe, the daily payment of the day-laborer, the right to glean vines and fields) answer the exhortation of Deuteronomy: “For the poor will never cease out of the land; therefore I command you, ‘You shall open wide your hand to your brother, to the needy and to the poor in the land.’”[248] Jesus makes these words his own: “The poor you always have with you, but you do not always have me.”[249] In so doing he does not soften the vehemence of former oracles against “buying the poor for silver and the needy for a pair of sandals . . .,” but invites us to recognize his own presence in the poor who are his brethren:[250]
**When her mother reproached her for caring for the poor and the sick at home, St. Rose of Lima said to her: "When we serve the poor and the sick, we serve Jesus. We must not fail to help our neighbors, because in them we serve Jesus.**251]

 

[Trishie]

Answer from Bro. Ignatius Mary, OLSM, L.Th.

"The standard practice in the United States is that one should give sacrificially (though not necessarily 10%). Of whatever God inspires you to give, 50% may be given to the parish, and 50% given to other ministries of your choice.

The Old Testament model of a tithe (10%) was actually only the beginning of the required gifts the Hebrews were expected to offer to God. All-in-all, if I remember correctly, after adding up all the various tithing and gifts required a person gave about 33%.

In the New Testament we have the story of the poor woman who gave all she had (which would be more than 10%, but 100%).

For some people 10% is pocket change and not a sacrifice at all. To very poor people 10% may mean they cannot eat for a week. Thus we need to give what is sacrificial to us whether that be 5%, 10% or 40%.

From all this we learn a principle of tithing. The percentage does not matter, what matters is that whatever percentage one gives that it be sacrificial. To be sacrificial means that it should hurt a little and it should be from the “first fruits”, which means that the tithe check, whatever percentage it is, is the FIRST check written before any other bills. Tithing should not be taken from left-overs.

God promises that when we consider Him first in bringing in our gifts to the storehouse (Church) that He will bless us."