Tithing and having Masses said, also charity

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Annie

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I was thinking about this and wondered about it.

If one were tithing, could one use some of that to have Masses prayed for those who have died? Supposing one knew the person who had died and would have had at least some Masses prayed for them anyway?

.also, suppose a charity helped a person out and later they were in a position to give to that charity. Could they use part of the tithe for that?

I guess you can tell I’m new at this!

ETA: Also, if one gives money to homeless people, can that also come out of the tithe?
 
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Generally Catholics don’t tithe, so we don’t have strict rules about it.
The rule of thumb I use is 5% to the parish coffers and 5% to other charitable giving, such as other charities, second collections, Catholic radio, etc. Mass stipends, for me, are over and above that.
 
One suggestion that I’ve followed is to gradually increase one’s giving. We have gone up 1% per year. Like Mary Ellen, our goal is 5% to our parish and then 5% elsewhere. We are thinking that we might pick one local organization and one international to help specifically, and then the rest to just give as we are moved.

There’s no “right” answer or way, I don’t think, so long as one is generous.
 
One of the laws of the Church is to financially support her according to your means.
 
I believe protestants who tithe try to give 10% of their gross income. If that is the case then I think we all tithe since we give the government as much as 20% of our income in taxes, much of which goes to the poor and needy.
 
Thanks Pensmama and Mary Ellen, you reminded me It’s like the Rosary, a private devotion which can be said however one wants 🙂

And also about the half and half way of doing it.

I am not tithing all my income, just part, and adding other parts to the tithe as I go along.
 
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Part of my problem is that the only Catholic I know who does it started doing it when she was a Protestant, so her ideas are odd to me.
 
A parish near us explicitly has tithing as part of their mission statement. Because most parishioners tithe, they have a tuition-free Catholic school.
 
So do all the parishioners give 10 % to the church alone? Just wondering!
 
I believe so, but I don’t know for sure. I know a family who belongs there and their kids attend the school, so it’s just come up in conversation between us, and once when we attended Mass there I read their posted mission statement and saw that it explicitly mentioned tithing.
 
10% is a good rule of thumb if you have the means to do it.

A 5% 5% breakdown would be nice.

What you give is between God and you. It really isn’t anyone else’s business.

If you can’t give 10% to charity, God appreciates people who volunteer their time.

Just some food for thought.
 
I suppose that having a mass said for someone would count.

I don’t think that is something you should abuse. There are many people who would like masses said for their loved ones. Doing it for a few masses would be OK. Don’t do it for 40.

That is my read on it. I am sure others have some thoughts and good advice.
 
I wasn’t clear. I was giving it to the parish except when I sent some to charities. I would still give at least 5% to the parish, and then the other 5% could go either to the parish or elsewhere.

Tithing is actually really nice. One of my jobs is for tips and that’s where I started. If I had a slow night, then I could just say to myself, God must think it is really necessary for my holiness to reduce His share! And recently I had to spend more than I had expected, and the night was a normally slow night, but I had one of my best nights which covered the entire amount I had spent plus a little extra! Wasn’t that nice of Him!
 
God is good!

BTW, I wasn’t being judgmental. I was just sharing my experience.

I think that the tithing idea is easier for tipped employees to understand. I used to be a waiter when I was in school, and tithing just seemed like common sense to me. Non commission based people in lucrative jobs have difficulty understanding it.

(At least that is my observation.)
 
Pray, pay and obey…all three we are commanded to do in Scripture! Yes of course you could take a part or even the whole amount and use it for various intentions. And our charity does not end with death. Praying for the dead is much needed. My parish often includes spaces on the envelopes to fill in on who you would like prayers for.
 
Annie said:
I was thinking about this and wondered about it.

If one were tithing, could one use some of that to have Masses prayed for those who have died? Supposing one knew the person who had died and would have had at least some Masses prayed for them anyway?

.also, suppose a charity helped a person out and later they were in a position to give to that charity. Could they use part of the tithe for that?

I guess you can tell I’m new at this!

ETA: Also, if one gives money to homeless people, can that also come out of the tithe?
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My way of doing things is that I donate a certain amount each month to my parish. If I want something more from them – e.g., having Masses celebrated for a particular intention – I make an extra donation for the Masses. When I was donating for the building fund, that was in addition to my regular donation. I figure the regular donation is like paying for fixed expenses – keeping the lights on, the buildings maintained, the staff paid, etc.

I also make donations to various charities. Those are separate from what I donate to my parish. Some of them are Catholic charities, some are local charities, but either way they have nothing to do with my parish. If I donate to Catholic Relief Services, for example, that doesn’t mean my parish is paying less for the utility bills that month. And at the same time, donating to my parish doesn’t help people in desperate situations around the world.

I budget for both parish donations and charitable donations. I don’t cut what I give to one in order to give money to the other.
 
There’s no “rules” for tithing and most Catholics don’t tithe anyway.
You can contribute whatever money you want to whatever cause you want.
You can ask for a Mass to be said or not. You can give to a charity or not.
Your choice.
 
Yeah it’s a nice thing to do for the dead.
You can’t expect a Mass in return for every little donation though. For example, we’re expected to support our parish where we attend Mass and receive sacraments. A parish only has so many Masses per year, so all the parishioners have to have a chance to request one or two. The amount I give to my church every month could cover a number of Masses which simply aren’t available, so I don’t expect that.

Usually if I want Masses said, I go arrange them with some mission society that has a lot of priests in a place like Africa or India and many of them are in remote areas where people can’t give donations for Masses and they really need the money.
 
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