Donating to non-Catholic ministries

[Gerry_Hunter]

blessedstar:

That makes him the devil incarnate does it? He loves Jesus, he does what he feels is the truth, it is up to those within the fullness of truth by their love and kindness even to the least to accept them where they are at.

Acceptance has noting to do with forking over donations. Nothing at all.

blessedstar:

I’m telling you no-one can claim Jesus as their God and treat another with hatred and unkindness.

But they can decline to financially support their efforts, and when that is the indicated action, that is precisely what they should do.

blessedstar:

Remember that spoon full of honey…all this vinegar will do only harm.

Also, a fool and his money are soon parted.

Blessings,

Gerry

 

[blessedstar]

If I am a fool who is parted from my money that helps people, then really I am happy to be a fool and called a fool by men, but God would not call me a fool for helping another person, no only men can be this protracted to make it so complex as to deny giving to another. If all we see is denomination then the conscience is not in operation to even notice the smallest and greatest of our brothers and sisters (there is only one Baptism in Christ and all those not Baptised are children of God created to be His and hoepfully His grace will provide the desire to be His).

I don’t remember anywhere ever being told either in Sacred Scripture or in Catholic Tradition only to give via the Catholic ministries nor to your own kind, I vividly remember being told to give to all people and that my neighbour is everyone.

I don’t think we were ever told to be snobbish about our faith, but I do recall being told to be humble and not to exalt oneself.

Did we forget the story of the Good Samaritan or do we only take notice of it when it suits us?

In this world’s terms … I am one very happy fool

 

[Gerry_Hunter]

If you did your homework, and determined that the donations would go for Christian good works, then that’s not being a fool.

The person who merely gives money because it is a “nice” thing to do, without any investigation, is the one being foolish.

We pool our resources with other Christian groups a lot, Our parish is involved (hosting) a program for refugee women, and there is involvement from other Christian and secular sources.

It’s all a question of doing one’s homework, not just throwing money as a knee jerk.

Blessings,

Gerry

 

[rlg94086]

Gerry,

Our parish also does a lot of charitable works with other churches, but I think that is separate from financially supporting evangelizing efforts - that’s what the original poster asked about.

My goal is to bring as many people to the fullness of the truth. Funding a non-Catholic evangelical group won’t do that, so I prefer to fund Catholic evangelical groups. We need to help our college students deepen their understanding of their faith.

God bless,

Robert
Gerry Hunter:

If you did your homework, and determined that the donations would go for Christian good works, then that’s not being a fool.

The person who merely gives money because it is a “nice” thing to do, without any investigation, is the one being foolish.

We pool our resources with other Christian groups a lot, Our parish is involved (hosting) a program for refugee women, and there is involvement from other Christian and secular sources.

It’s all a question of doing one’s homework, not just throwing money as a knee jerk.

Blessings,

Gerry

 

[Gerry_Hunter]

rlg94086:

Gerry,

Our parish also does a lot of charitable works with other churches, but I think that is separate from financially supporting evangelizing efforts - that’s what the original poster asked about.

And that’s exactly what parishes should be doing. My compliments.

rlg94086:

My goal is to bring as many people to the fullness of the truth. Funding a non-Catholic evangelical group won’t do that, so I prefer to fund Catholic evangelical groups. We need to help our college students deepen their understanding of their faith.

God bless,

Robert

Two thunbs up,

Blessings,

Gerry

 

[blessedstar]

If anyone does good then we can be sure it comes from God as only good proceeds from Him, therefore we should not reject it.

 

[johnnykins]

joana:

Our parish Catholic Church has been asked to donate to a college Christian ministry whose goal is to spread the Gospel and evangelize. The Christian ministry is non-denominational however clearly not promoting Catholic beliefs. Question: should this matter.

And by spreading error - non-Catholic teaching - it would be wrong to contribute to such a ministry.

This is NOT a charity - it’s a non-Catholic, and probably anti-Catholic, evangelical mission.

 

[Gerry_Hunter]

blessedstar:

If anyone does good then we can be sure it comes from God as only good proceeds from Him, therefore we should not reject it.

And we have a duty to inform ourselves about what people are doing, to make sure it is “good” before we support it.

On the one hand, collaboration in meeting the material needs of the poor, or sick, or others in material need, will pass scrutiny. On the other hand, spreading the “good news” that the Catholic Church is not the fulness of the Church of Jesus Christ will not.

Blessings,

Gerry

 

[Brian_C]

Hmm, does this mean I should regret the $10 I donated to a co-worker’s Baptist church in lieu of 2 tickets to their spaghetti dinner?

 

[rlg94086]

I don’t know. Was the purpose of the dinner to raise funds for a special evangelical mission? Did you give money because you thought it would be a good idea to Baptist evangelizing efforts, even if it means Catholics?

I’m guessing you went because you have friends at the Church and you wanted to join them. That’s different then supporting a particular cause.

Brian_C:

Hmm, does this mean I should regret the $10 I donated to a co-worker’s Baptist church in lieu of 2 tickets to their spaghetti dinner?

 

[LouisvilleCards]

I donate money to InterVarsity Christian Fellowship. Most of the staff and administrators are evangelicals, but the organization is truly inter-denominational in that they accept Christians from all traditions and simply encourage them to live out their faith from their heart, and we did have a few actively involved Catholics. One of my friends who is an InterVarsity staff worker plays cello at a Catholic Mass every Sunday morning. (He is Baptist and his church meets on Sunday evenings.) The last two years at the beginning of Lent, he has invited the priest at the Catholic church to speak at InterVarsity about Lent, Easter, and the church seasons, followed by a Q&A session about Catholicism.

I grew up Lutheran, but was never taught anything about having a personal relationship with Christ. That’s the biggest thing I got out of InterVarsity, along with learning how to study the Bible and evangelize. As I continued to grow in Christ and seek the Truth, I eventually chose Catholicism (I’ll be welcomed into the Church this Easter Vigil). Funny thing is, I was unsure about how the InterVarsity staff would react. They were actually glad because they’re starting a chapter at a local Catholic university and wanted me to volunteer to help them there

Catholic ministries should definitely be at the top of our list, but there are some good non-Catholic organizations out there who cooperate with Catholics in their ministries. One in particular I’ve found is United Bible Societies.

 

[Flopfoot]

BlessedStar - We are asked to make the most of what we have (recall the parable of the talents). If a non-Catholic Christian converts a non-Christian then this is a good thing because chances are he has brought him closer to the truth, even if not all the way to the full truth. If a non-Catholic Christian converts a Catholic then this is a bad thing because he has (unknowingly) brought him further away from the truth. It’s not snobbery, just simple statement of fact that the Catholic Church has the fullness of truth and the other churches don’t. Now, that considered, most non-Catholic Christian charities and evangelical efforts probably still do good overall by bringing people closer to God. But they can’t hold a candle to a Catholic evangelical effort - because Catholic evangelical efforts will only bring people closer to the truth, never take them away from it, and it will bring people all the way to the fullness of truth.

Like in the parable of the talents, then, make the most of what you’ve got. Donating to a Catholic group will do more good than donating to a non-Catholic group.

 

[LeahInancsi]

Aren’t there enough Catholic missionary organizations who need money or does your parish have more money than they know what to do with?

As an individual, it’s is perfectly okay to contribute to any charity within your conscience, but the Catholic church (your parhish) shouldn’t solicit contributions for other religions.

IMHO

 

[Brian_C]

Well, I guess I did it b/c my co-worker is a seemingly good Christian and thought it was the charitable thing to do. I honestly didn’t think about the possibility that the money could be going to buy Jack Chick tracts or something.

rlg94086:

I don’t know. Was the purpose of the dinner to raise funds for a special evangelical mission? Did you give money because you thought it would be a good idea to Baptist evangelizing efforts, even if it means Catholics?

I’m guessing you went because you have friends at the Church and you wanted to join them. That’s different then supporting a particular cause.

 

[buffalo]

Brian_C:

Hmm, does this mean I should regret the $10 I donated to a co-worker’s Baptist church in lieu of 2 tickets to their spaghetti dinner?

In a way, yes. If the dollars you donated help them to stay in error there is some compliclty. By supporting something you help sustain its life.

 

[fix]

blessedstar:

We must also remember that there is salvation outside of the Catholic Church …

Of course, you did not mean this as it appears?

 

[fix]

joana:

Our parish Catholic Church has been asked to donate to a college Christian ministry whose goal is to spread the Gospel and evangelize. The Christian ministry is non-denominational however clearly not promoting Catholic beliefs. Question: should this matter.

Of course. Why would one support a group who is spreading a message that may not only be only partly true, but perhaps error?

What if the group taught abortion, or sterilization, is morally acceptable?

 

[Brian_C]

I guess there’d be BIG problems then if my 93 year old Sicilian Catholic grandfather decides to donate the now closed family grocery store and house to the small black Baptist church across the street for use as a rectory and Sunday school!

But I don’t get that. I mean, I understand what everyone is saying but hypothetically speaking…what if say just pretend here, I don’t think this is the case, without the donation of the buildings I mentioned, the church folds and some of its members lose their faith, however imperfect it is. A lack of action on my grandfather’s part would then be contributing to this loss of the faithful. Would action then be justified? Again, this is all hypothetical just out of sheer curiosity. My grandfather doesn’t like to even sell property. He’s always been taught to hold on to real estate

 

[buffalo]

Brian_C:

I guess there’d be BIG problems then if my 93 year old Sicilian Catholic grandfather decides to donate the now closed family grocery store and house to the small black Baptist church across the street for use as a rectory and Sunday school!

But I don’t get that. I mean, I understand what everyone is saying but hypothetically speaking…what if say just pretend here, I don’t think this is the case, without the donation of the buildings I mentioned, the church folds and some of its members lose their faith, however imperfect it is. A lack of action on my grandfather’s part would then be contributing to this loss of the faithful. Would action then be justified? Again, this is all hypothetical just out of sheer curiosity. My grandfather doesn’t like to even sell property. He’s always been taught to hold on to real estate

The vacuum must be filled. Hopefully they will come home to Catholicism. Why would we want to play with their souls?

He could attach some conditions to the donation.

 

[BigEasyBig]

joana:

Our parish Catholic Church has been asked to donate to a college Christian ministry whose goal is to spread the Gospel and evangelize. The Christian ministry is non-denominational however clearly not promoting Catholic beliefs. Question: should this matter.

Of course it matters!!

There are many good Catholic colleges, universities, and ministries dedicated to spreading the Gsopel and evangelizing. Give to them first and foremost, if not exclusively.