Tithing

[RoseMeg451]

I wasn’t sure where to put this, so I hope y’all can help me here! I am a single person and I just recently got my first job. I always heard that as Catholics we were to tithe, give 10% of our income to the Church. My mom recently told me that Catholics don’t tithe. Can someone tell me what is the correct Catholic teaching on this matter? Thanks so much!

 

[kell0618]

We are not expected to tithe though we are expected to give as much as possible, but still be able to make ends meet. I know that this is not easy to figure out, but look at your budget and figure out the most you can give but still pay the bills, eat and put a bit into savings. We figured out what we could afford by tightening our ‘belts’ and giving a bit more than felt comfortable. If we are short one week, we make it up in the following week’s collection. We give a lot of our time to our parish as well (volunteering, on RCIA team, etc.) so I feel that though we can’t give more financially, we give in other ways.

We are required to give of our time, talent and treasure. Give what you can.

 

[geezerbob]

My personal experience has been that if you have faith enough to pay the Lord first, He’ll see to it that you have enough to take care of the bills. Our bishop recommends 5% to the church, 1% to the diocese, and 4% to charity.

 

[lak611]

The tithe was an Old Testament law that does not apply to Christians. St. Paul explains how we should give.

2Co 9:7

(CEV) Each of you must make up your own mind about how much to give. But don’t feel sorry that you must give and don’t feel that you are forced to give. God loves people who love to give.

(DRB) Every one as he hath determined in his heart, not with sadness or of necessity: for God loveth a cheerful giver.

(ESV) Each one must give as he has decided in his heart, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver.

(KJV) Every man according as he purposeth in his heart, so let him give; not grudgingly, or of necessity: for God loveth a cheerful giver.

 

[theStrugle]

yeah, as for my experience the more you give the more you’ll get in return as long as you don’t show off

 

[water]

an article written my Jimmy Akin
jimmyakin.org/2006/02/tithing_giving_.html

 

[DLC]

With tithing you want a Biblical answer to the question. Today we are under grace and there is no set amount that a believer is to give. Paul, who said about giving than nay other NT writer, never once mention tithing in his section on money. There is no NT command for the christian that says we are to tithe. Tithing was an OT command given to the nation of Israel to help support the temple.

 

[Zirconia]

With tithing you want a Biblical answer to the question. Today we are under grace and there is no set amount that a believer is to give. Paul, who said about giving than nay other NT writer, never once mention tithing in his section on money. There is no NT command for the christian that says we are to tithe. Tithing was an OT command given to the nation of Israel to help support the temple.

I always saw one in Matthew 23:23

“You give a tenth of your spices–mint, dill, and cumin. But you have neglected the more important matters of the law–justice, mercy, and faithfulness. You should have practiced the latter without neglecting the former.” (emphasis added).

Zirconia

 

[levi86]

I wasn’t sure where to put this, so I hope y’all can help me here! I am a single person and I just recently got my first job. I always heard that as Catholics we were to tithe, give 10% of our income to the Church. My mom recently told me that Catholics don’t tithe. Can someone tell me what is the correct Catholic teaching on this matter? Thanks so much!

10% as a bare minimum! We should be giving as much as we possibly can.

 

[Malcolm_McLean]

I wasn’t sure where to put this, so I hope y’all can help me here! I am a single person and I just recently got my first job. I always heard that as Catholics we were to tithe, give 10% of our income to the Church. My mom recently told me that Catholics don’t tithe. Can someone tell me what is the correct Catholic teaching on this matter? Thanks so much!

The Church needs enough money to cover its operations. This varies from place to place. If you have an old building that needs a lot of maintenance outgoings will be higher than if the church is a modern structure. Similarly if the parish is doing a lot of educational, evangelical or cultural activities.

10% is traditional, but many modern Catholic communities consider it too high. You should try to find out what other parishioners give, and give a similar amount. Choose the committed members, not those who just attend occasionally, as your lead.

 

[Todd_Easton]

According to Canon Law, the faithful are obliged “to provide for the needs of the Church.” However, a strict tithe (10%) is not mandated by Canon Law; the word “tithe” is not mentioned anywhere in Canon Law.Canon 222.
§1. Christ’s faithful have the obligation to provide for the needs of the Church, so that the Church has available to it those things which are necessary for divine worship, for apostolic and charitable work and for the worthy support of its ministers.

 

[DLC]

Matt-John is OT testamentin that the people were under the Mosaic Law as a rule to live by. This is why we find Christ obeying the Law in the gospels and why he encouraged tithing. Christ came to redeem us from the Law. Today there is not one cammand in the NT that tells the Christian to tithe.
Gal 4:4-5
4 But when the fullness of the time came, God sent forth His Son, born of a woman, born under the Law, 5 **so that He might redeem those who were under the Law, that we might receive the adoption as sons.**NASU :extrahappy:

 

[garrydavid]

I always saw one in Matthew 23:23

“You give a tenth of your spices–mint, dill, and cumin. But you have neglected the more important matters of the law–justice, mercy, and faithfulness. You should have practiced the latter without neglecting the former.” (emphasis added).

Zirconia

Dear Zirconia,

You missed out the first sentense. The full verse is:
"“How terrible it will be for you, scribes and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You give a tenth of your mint, dill, and cummin, but have neglected the more important matters of the law: justice, mercy, and faithfulness. These are the things you should have practiced, without neglecting the others.”

I think it is important to know the context Jesus said it. God bless.

 

[RosaryFan]

I wasn’t sure where to put this, so I hope y’all can help me here! I am a single person and I just recently got my first job. I always heard that as Catholics we were to tithe, give 10% of our income to the Church. My mom recently told me that Catholics don’t tithe. Can someone tell me what is the correct Catholic teaching on this matter? Thanks so much!

I think tithing is an old testament idea. Back then, they didn’t have cell phone bills, cable bills, health insurance bills, real estate/school taxes, astronomical college fees, car payments, million dollar mortgages, credit card debt…

Personally, I don’t even think tithing is possible. I mean, my salary is only 100%. If the church gets 10%, the government takes 35% (give or take), health insurace is another 10%, mortage is 20%, car payments are 5%, food is 5%, tuition is 10%, clothing is 2%, utility bills are 5%, school taxes are 10%, I’m pretty much in the hole.

And I didn’t even mention auto insurance, hair cuts, entertainment, gifts to family members for various occasions, Catholic school tuition (OUCH!), cable TV, home repairs, car repairs, annual auto inspection, unexpected illness and/or doctor visits (another OUCH), dentist, orthodontist…

How is tithing possible???

 

[YADA]

We are the New Covenant Church, a redeemed people bought by the Blood of Jesus on the Cross …

Tithing is an tenet of the Old Covenant - this is true- … but consider this when you consider the gifts you have received …

Under the Law - you gave a tenth - a tithe- 10% … the Hebrew people were the Chosen of God … they had Moses, the Law and the Prophets … for this they were required to tithe …

We are a the New Church - not only chosen by God but He [Jesus the Christ - God Incarnate] suffered and died for our sins … Jesus, the one who calls us by name and for whom He has “gone to prepare a place - a mansion with many rooms in His Father’s house” … We have Moses, the Law and the Prophets PLUS, the Church, the New Testament, the Sacraments [inclsuding th Eucharist - the very Body and Blood of Jesus] … and Jesus as Savior, Lord, King, Slain - Sacrifical Lamb …

What do we give? …

And where do we start? … do we start with our left overs our excess?

or Do we start at 10% and go up?

Do we give from our hearts in relation to the gifts God has bestowed on us?

Consider this [in case you are not a "numbers’ person…

If you make $8.35 per hour [$1,392 per month or about $17,000 per year] with no vacation or paid holidays and worked only 2000 hours per year [2080 is considered a full work year - this gives you 2 weeks off unpaid] THEN

$10 per week = $520 per year … equates to a 3.1% contribution

$20 per week = $1040 per year … equates to a 6.1% contribution

To reach a 10% figure based upon the theoretical $8.35 hour job you would need to donate to your parish over $32 per week or $1,700 per year …

Do you buy a Starbucks coffee once a week? 52 large vanilla lattees at $3.60 each equates to $187 a year …

What is more important … gathering each Sunday with our fellow Christians, worshipping God and receiving Christ - being fed the very Body and Blood of our Lord … or the monthly Cable Channels [Basic Cable with High Speed Internet access is about $39.99 per month $480 per year] …

Its for you decide … remember Jesus’s parable of the Widow and her 2 mites compared to the 10% Tithe of the Richer men … the widow gave from her very need - from money she could have bought life’s necessities and received psoitive notive from God… while those who gave a ‘regulatory’ tithe but which came from their leftovers their excesses were noted by God - but unfavorably …

You and your family must find a way to place your contribution in context - not in what is the average for the parih, not in some hard percentage - but in terms that makes your contribution real and meaningful - a gift of Thanks for All that Jesus does in, for and through you …

 

[RosaryFan]

We are the New Covenant Church, a redeemed people bought by the Blood of Jesus on the Cross …

Tithing is an tenet of the Old Covenant - this is true- … but consider this when you consider the gifts you have received …

Under the Law - you gave a tenth - a tithe- 10% … the Hebrew people were the Chosen of God … they had Moses, the Law and the Prophets … for this they were required to tithe …

We are a the New Church - not only chosen by God but He [Jesus the Christ - God Incarnate] suffered and died for our sins … Jesus, the one who calls us by name and for whom He has “gone to prepare a place - a mansion with many rooms in His Father’s house” … We have Moses, the Law and the Prophets PLUS, the Church, the New Testament, the Sacraments [inclsuding th Eucharist - the very Body and Blood of Jesus] … and Jesus as Savior, Lord, King, Slain - Sacrifical Lamb …

What do we give? …

And where do we start? … do we start with our left overs our excess?

or Do we start at 10% and go up?

Do we give from our hearts in relation to the gifts God has bestowed on us?

Consider this [in case you are not a "numbers’ person…

If you make $8.35 per hour [$1,392 per month or about $17,000 per year] with no vacation or paid holidays and worked only 2000 hours per year [2080 is considered a full work year - this gives you 2 weeks off unpaid] THEN

$10 per week = $520 per year … equates to a 3.1% contribution

$20 per week = $1040 per year … equates to a 6.1% contribution

To reach a 10% figure based upon the theoretical $8.35 hour job you would need to donate to your parish over $32 per week or $1,700 per year …

Do you buy a Starbucks coffee once a week? 52 large vanilla lattees at $3.60 each equates to $187 a year …

What is more important … gathering each Sunday with our fellow Christians, worshipping God and receiving Christ - being fed the very Body and Blood of our Lord … or the monthly Cable Channels [Basic Cable with High Speed Internet access is about $39.99 per month $480 per year] …

Its for you decide … remember Jesus’s parable of the Widow and her 2 mites compared to the 10% Tithe of the Richer men … the widow gave from her very need - from money she could have bought life’s necessities and received psoitive notive from God… while those who gave a ‘regulatory’ tithe but which came from their leftovers their excesses were noted by God - but unfavorably …

You and your family must find a way to place your contribution in context - not in what is the average for the parih, not in some hard percentage - but in terms that makes your contribution real and meaningful - a gift of Thanks for All that Jesus does in, for and through you …

No. I buy whatever coffee is on sale at the supermarket (usually their generic brand) and I make coffee at home. When there is leftover coffee, I do not throw it away. I warm it up in the microwave the next day. I do not buy Starbucks coffee.

I spend most of my waking time at church. I go to daily mass, I work in the rectory 2 days a week (volunteer), I am an RCIA teammember, I’m on parish pastoral council, and NOTHING is more important to me than “gather with fellow Christians and worshipping God…”

I still do not see how giving 10% (gross, mind you, not net) of my husband’s salary (we’re a one-salary family) is possible without having creditors calling us up because we’ve missed mortgage payments, utility payments, etc.

If you can count what I pay for my child’s tuition, or what my time is worth, maybe we’d be able to tithe.

Incidentally, I’m not in the minority.

 

[Philthy]

I wasn’t sure where to put this, so I hope y’all can help me here! I am a single person and I just recently got my first job. I always heard that as Catholics we were to tithe, give 10% of our income to the Church. My mom recently told me that Catholics don’t tithe. Can someone tell me what is the correct Catholic teaching on this matter? Thanks so much!

There is no fixed amount that everyone should give. If you look in Acts 2 you will see that the church “had everything in common” and they laid whatever they had at the feet of the apostles.
I believe the original concept of a tithe to the church comes from Abraham giving Melchizedek a tenth of everything for performing his priestly sacrifice of offering bread and wine.
As Christians we are called to die to ourselves out of love for God expressed as love for neighbor, and especially those who “belong to the family of faith”. Be generous with the gifts God has provided for you. Start with some offering of time, talent and treasure. Reflect upon what it means to “come after me” in terms of how generous Christ was and is. Spend time in prayer with our Lord and ask for guidance regarding your generosity. Educate yourself and be conscious of the needs of the poor to properly inform your conscience so that your free will and God’s grace can interact properly.

 

[YADA]

No. I buy whatever coffee is on sale at the supermarket (usually their generic brand) and I make coffee at home. When there is leftover coffee, I do not throw it away. I warm it up in the microwave the next day. I do not buy Starbucks coffee.

I spend most of my waking time at church. I go to daily mass, I work in the rectory 2 days a week (volunteer), I am an RCIA teammember, I’m on parish pastoral council, and NOTHING is more important to me than “gather with fellow Christians and worshipping God…”

I still do not see how giving 10% (gross, mind you, not net) of my husband’s salary (we’re a one-salary family) is possible without having creditors calling us up because we’ve missed mortgage payments, utility payments, etc.

If you can count what I pay for my child’s tuition, or what my time is worth, maybe we’d be able to tithe.

Incidentally, I’m not in the minority.

And I too volunteer in my parish [so much that many think I am paid staff - though I work] …

I guess you missed the meat of my post …

You and your family must find a way to place your contribution in context - not in what is the average for the parish, not in some hard percentage - but in terms that makes your contribution real and meaningful - a gift of Thanks for All that Jesus does in, for and through you …

And while volunteering is part of the Time & Talents … parishes cannot exist on volunteer efforst and hours … the reality is that parishes have ‘financial obligations’ …and while each parishioner could bring a role of toilet paper to place in the collection basket - most parishes would rather purchase supplies like that to take the guess work out whether the role will be there when needed or not …

Seriously, the utility bills need to be paid along with insurance, employee salaries and benefits [this is true even if the only employee is the priest] and I would propose that the Church as an employer should provide fair wages and benefits, building and ground maintenance, office and mass supplies, transportation costs, educational program materials, employer mandated payroll taxesand probably other items that cannot be coveredby your ‘volunteer activity’ …

I am very glad you do not place Starbucks before God …but we all have our extravagances - the Rich & the Poor and the Middle Class … few if any of us get to the generosity of the Widow [this is true for me - can’t say what it is for you- specifically but I can observe the general practice]

Generally - we give to God after we allocate to other ‘needs’ … this is something my family works to change … we make a conscious effort to allocate a proportion of God’s gifts to us first … to take that allocation seriously - more seriously then the mortgage payment - placing God first … and forming that allocation in terms to which we can relate - in terms of other important expenditures and what the results of those expenditures mean to our lives and what Jesus means to our lives …

for example - in the past [we can’t afford it currently] my husband enjoyed gathering with friends for pizza each week. We viewed this as a time to spend with friends, enjoying lively discussion, building relationships and it was an investment in our lives - not simply a hurried meal. What financial cost did that have - we calculated and examined the cost [weekly, monthly and annually].

We calclauted the time we spent involved in that activity … and then we discussed what our faith and our parish means to our daily lives. How important participation at Mass is to our family. What the true meaning of the Mass is - a family meal, where we join together in community and recieve the very Body and Blood of Jesus to sustain us and nourish us …

It is through activities like this that we gain perspective upon our faith - and how we use God’s gifts in the world, how we view ***our *** parish and invest in our parish - volunteering, actively working to ensure its success through Time Talent and Treasure …

If your family is there then God Bless you … I can’t know …

But to say we have no obligation [as some do - not saying you spcifically] to tithe because that is OT or whatever - I believe discounts the reality - Our fruits are so great the thithe cannot be quantified anymore … We have so much more - Jesus loved us so much more - Jesus gave His veryLife for Me and you and you and you et al …

… We possess the fullfillment of all the promises made to Moses, Abraham et al … that is why Paul tells us to give according to our gifts and from the heart …

IF we truly lived that reality - we would give so much more [and our lives would be enriched even more … at least that is my experience - the more I give the more God enriches our life - Thank you Jesus for Blessing us so richly ]

 

[Joseph_Kemp]

There is absolutely no requirement for Catholics to tithe (give 10% of what they earn to the Church.) There is nothing in the Catechism about tithing. There is nothing in canon law. There is nothing in any encyclical or papal document requiring Catholics to tithe. For a Catholic to talk seriously about tithing is just plain bizarre.

We ARE obligated to help the Church materially (money-wise,) as stated in the Precepts of the Church. But there is no minimum amount required. There is no specific percentage needed. Catholics are entirely free to give as little or as much as they want. And there is absolutely nothing officially written anywhere in the Church that says otherwise.

Anyone who maintains that Catholics MUST give 10% of our earnings to the Church is going beyond what we can legitimately say as Catholics. This is entering the realm of heresy. Catholics are free to give any amount they wish. It is a matter of conscience. As pointed out elsewhere on Catholic Answers, for a Catholic parish to demand a given percentage of money from its followers would be extortion - an outright heretical action. The Church as a whole has condemned such actions in the past.

Protestants often tithe. Mormons are REQUIRED to tithe. Some Catholic writers speak of tithing as if it is some kind of Catholic “obligation,” but these writers are flatly wrong. “Catholic” writers who believe that Catholics should tithe often arrive at this viewpoint after associating too closely with the Protestant view. It is a view from outside the Church. And no Catholic is under any obligation to follow it.

Some so-called Catholic writers also speak of giving 5% of our earnings to Church, and 5% to the poor (roughly divided.) But this is just the usual 10% tithe, dressed up in a different format. And it is still heretical.

As far as can be determined, Catholics who believe that we should tithe say so out of fear. They often do not know the genuine requirements or teachings of the Church, and so usually they adopt an extreme position - the seemingly safest one. And this is natural, if unintelligent.

Most Catholics have heard of the 10% tithe, as mentioned in the Bible for the ancient Jews. Most have not heard the Catholic teaching on the subject. Christ released Christians from the obligation to tithe. People worried about their salvation however, automatically adopt the most extreme, strict way of achieving said salvation. If it is strict, then it must be right - or so the thinking goes. This is very common in most ways of human thinking.

Final Note: Some Catholics who actually DO teach tithing belong to Traditionalist Catholic Churches - Churches that define themselves as Catholic, but which are not part of the ordinary Catholic Church. Traditionalists (mostly) do not follow the Pope or the Vatican. They feel that the regular Catholic Church is too “gentle” on its followers, too “soft” on non-believers. If you are reading a “Catholic” book and it sounds too strict, then you are probably reading a Traditionalist book. TAN Books is a particularly bad publisher. Their books can be vicious, judgmental, and downright scary. Liberals create plenty of heresies, but I feel that the very worst heresies in the world are the ones created by tough conservatives. And there’s a lot of conservative confusion surrounding the Catholic Church.

Again, any Catholic worried about tithing shouldn’t worry. Tithing is (often) a Protestant phenomenon. It is not Catholic at all. And although the Catholic Church has the power to require more contributions from its followers, this power is almost never used. Tithing is simply not central to our faith. I have always found the Catholic Church to be rational, reasonable, and very gentle on its followers. It is EXTRAORDINARILY undemanding. It is very easy to be Catholic. I and I feel sad when I see some people trying to make such an easy thing seem so very difficult.

 

[OnlyHeIsHoly]

I have attended many baptist and pentecostal churches (african american) and they heavily emphasis the obligation of tithing in reference to Malachi 3:8. Why is that?

To me it seems the obligation they are putting on people in their congregations is one of not faith and love of giving (2 Cor. 9:7) but of law that is not standing or obligatory on christian believers today.

There are many things going on in those churches that are bit off and are becoming a stumblingblock that are making me consider leaving. There seems to be no accountability and there is too much fracturing. I’m trying to vent, but protestantism as I am seeing it more unbiasly seems to have no accountability to the many fractions in it as well as baptists. Ministers are doing and telling people whatever they want with no accountability. It is shameful