Tithing

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dailymass

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I am curious to find out the level of tithing done by Catholics on this site. Although there are no hard and fast rules, the Bible talks about tithing 10% of the first fruits. By the grace of God, my wife and I have been writing the first check to God for about 15 years. Because of this, He has blessed us beyond belief.

I have spoken with numerous Catholics who don’t tithe faithfully. I have tried to witness to them that it takes an act of faith to trust God, regardless of whether or not you can “afford” to give Him your first fruits. Some have responded positively, while others have responded that they can’t afford it. Can we afford not to trust God by returning a small percentage of the gifts He bestows on us?

Do you have a tithing program that you faithfully follow?
 
I too, witnessed that. I converted two Easters ago, but started getting envelopes 6 months before when I registered in the parish. We started giving, and as we got comfortable with the level, we’d up it $5 or $10.
Well, when it came raise-time at work, our company standard is 3-4% annually, and I got 12%.

Now we give 5% cash, but we put a lot of time and effort into the parish, not just teaching, but gardening, and when we garden, we spend-plants, mulch, tools, a fountain and statue, as well as work. We have 11 acres of property at our parish, and virtually no one does anything other than basic maintenance. We’ve taken down 13 oleanders (15 feet tall each), including manual stump removal, implemented a watering system, revamped the soil, planted and maintained all the area around the church and rectory. On top of that, we donated a working car last year, and of course, there’s clothing to St. Vincent De Paul, and so on. So I believe in time and effort, as well as sacrificial giving, we’re just about doing our share.
 
I also believe in giving of our first fruits, but I don’t believe we will automatically be financially rewarded if we do so. Certainly we will receive blessings, but they won’t all be financial.

I will not encourage people to tithe before they’ve paid their bills–particularly if they have debt beyond house, car, maybe student loan. The reason for the is that the money they pay their bills with is not theirs–it belongs to their creditors (we can only pray that their creditors are tithing to a Catholic parish).

Conversely, we should certainly fill our envelopes before we decide to go into more debt! I heard a wonderful sermon about this from a Lutheran Bishop once. He was remembering how his father would come home on payday and fill the church envelopes and only then tell his wife that she could go to the grocery store.
dailymass said:
I am curious to find out the level of tithing done by Catholics on this site. Although there are no hard and fast rules, the Bible talks about tithing 10% of the first fruits. By the grace of God, my wife and I have been writing the first check to God for about 15 years. Because of this, He has blessed us beyond belief.

I have spoken with numerous Catholics who don’t tithe faithfully. I have tried to witness to them that it takes an act of faith to trust God, regardless of whether or not you can “afford” to give Him your first fruits. Some have responded positively, while others have responded that they can’t afford it. Can we afford not to trust God by returning a small percentage of the gifts He bestows on us?

Do you have a tithing program that you faithfully follow?
Click to expand...
 
dailymass said:
IDo you have a tithing program that you faithfully follow?
Click to expand...
As a 62 year old confirmed bachelor, I am indeed able to tithe 10%. However, I try to avoid spiritual pride or a holier-then-thou attitude about this. I may, probably will, cut back on that 10% as my Mother’s Alzheimer’s progresses and bills increase. I will certainly have to cut back when I retire, and income decreases.😦
 
Should we tithe 10% PRE-Tax income,
or 10% AFTER-tax income?

Tithing is not required by the New Testament or by the Church as I understand it. Still, I think we should give as much as we can to God.

In the Old Testament, you tithed 10% of your Gross, but in those days you didn’t have the Federal Government taking between
15% and 38% of your Income out first, so that you never ever see a BIG CHUNK of what you’ve earned. Then there’s the other 8% taken out for Social Security tax, which we will theoretically get back monthly after we retire.

Should we try to tithe 10% PRE tax, or 10% AFTER taxes ??
I simply can’t afford, with all my bills, to tithe 10% PRE tax unless God enables me to do so…
Jaypeeto4
+JMJ+
 
Jaypeeto4 said:
Should we try to tithe 10% PRE tax, or 10% AFTER taxes ??
I simply can’t afford, with all my bills, to tithe 10% PRE tax unless God enables me to do so…
Jaypeeto4
+JMJ+
Click to expand...
Opinion: One needs not tithe at all if you honestly cannot do so. Debts must be paid. Family must be supported. Provision must be made for retirement. God knows and understands your financial situation. Remember the story of the widow’s mite.
 
Jaypeeto4 said:
Then there’s the other 8% taken out for Social Security tax, which we will theoretically get back monthly after we retire.
Click to expand...
Since I doubt I will ever see any of the social security taxes I am paying, I consider it required charity. 😦
 
I selected the last option because I don’t really have an “income”. I’m a student - the only income I get is ten dollars a week, and a tithe then would only be $1 a week. So I guess I give at least one dollar a week (when I have my wallet of course, because I do forget it often. I don’t need it for daily Mass after all…

Catholig
 
I’ve never really sat down and figured it out. DH’s income is not predictable.

I contribute about 15-20% of my income for Catholic school, but I don’t guess that counts as tithing.

At this point the church is getting a good bit less than 10%. We do, however, try to give to other people in need as the need arises - especially my stepson and his 5 kids. I also contribute time working with the altar servers, and helping as needed and as my schedule permits.

Perhaps in a few years we’ll come closer to 10% off the top.
 
acadian said:
I’ve never really sat down and figured it out. DH’s income is not predictable.

I contribute about 15-20% of my income for Catholic school, but I don’t guess that counts as tithing.

At this point the church is getting a good bit less than 10%. We do, however, try to give to other people in need as the need arises - especially my stepson and his 5 kids. I also contribute time working with the altar servers, and helping as needed and as my schedule permits.

Perhaps in a few years we’ll come closer to 10% off the top.
Click to expand...
I am in the same sitch as our business is unpredictable. At times we are only able to give about 5%. The more we bring in, however, the more we give it back to The Lord.
And He has blessed us. I have not figured it out either, as besides sunday envelopes, we provide needed funds for other things for Parish functions, so I would say there is a period of time during the year that we might give 15 to 20%. Plus we give a lot of time when time permits to our Parish, which I think counts. Not sure if it is considered actual “tithing” though.🤷
 
Before my husband and I were engaged, I was delighted to learn that he tithed at 10%, same as I.
Sixteen years later, we still do.
God is faithful. We fall short in so many ways, but when we reflect on His goodness we can’t NOT tithe.
 
Well, when I figured it out it was less than 5%. Seems rather pathetic since we have no trouble meeting our needs! But I have also spoken to my retired father who raised 5 kids(we have 4 under 9) and he said there will be the time for greater giving, but now my job is to take care of the family’s needs. That sounds reasonable as well. I do not believe God will provide monetarily. He provides as He sees fit, in His own way.
 
none of the answers fit our situation, and asking about specific amounts comes rather close to personal questions which are frowned upon here.
 
Well, right now, with my wife unemployed and my receiving only SSDI with no savings and not being able to pay all our medical bills (nor able to afford many things), I tithe nothing monetarily, but offer up a lot of prayers and suffering for the good of the church and the world.
 
My situation is a bit “special” too. I am a street musician and work odd jobs, have no long-term savings. I save up a bit for a few months and then I go somewhere else where I mostly just volunteer (and don’t have a work permit). There ahve been times when I had to get through on 5 or 10 dollars a week (after rent and bus pass), and needed to use free food places etc myself.
During the 10-dollar a week time, I remember that, I gave a dollar to church every week. It was not tithing int he sense of giving 10% of what I earned, but 10% of what my weekly spending money was.
I do SOME forms of tithing. For example, sometimes when somebody gives me a big bill when I play my guitar, I decide to give away 10% of it. I may give it to another poor person.
I don’t have a regular income so “real” (number-wise) tithing might be complicated and maybe would also prevent me from doing a lot of good.
I often give money away to other struggling people. In my country there is a church tax, but my income is too low for me to have to pay taxes. The collection at church usually goes to a good cause. I always give something, and sometimes (inspired by the holy spirit) I give more.

Kathrin
 
Most everybody in my area that goes to Church every week either grab some cash from their wallet or participates in an automatic withdrawal from their banking account.

But it makes me think of the proportionate of salaries. There are plenty of people in my area that make in excess of 200,000 dollars a year. I think the average salary in my area is like 70,000 dollars. Anyway, for someone making 200,000 dollars a year to give 10%, they would give 20,000 dollars a year. If you consider that they would go to Mass every week plus the Holy Days of Obligation, they’d be shelling out 350 dollars a Mass :eek:
 
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