I think you may be talking apples and oranges.
Do you mean what counts as fasting or penance, what counts as almsgiving or just giving to the poor, and what counts towards the precept that we contribute to the support of the Church?
Fasting or penance has to do with self-denial. Let us say that a very rich man is most attached to specifying exactly what he will have to eat each day. You could take away 80% of his wealth, even dismiss his cook so that he had to cook for himself, and it would not bother him, if only he could have just what he wanted to eat, cooked just the way he liked it. If such a man were to tell his cook that he would eat whatever the cook made, that would be a sacrifice for the man, even though it cost him nothing in terms of money and might even save him time. The point is that he would be denying a habit of self-centeredness. He would be giving his belly less control of him.
Now, let us say that the man is an attorney and he donates his time to the Church. In doing this, he saves his diocese a great deal of money every year. That could be in satisfaction of his obligation to support the Church. Even though he gives no money, he would be giving up some of his ability to make more money than he would have. That would count as support of the Church. He might also give to the poor by doing pro bono work.
Having said that, the man wouldn’t say to himself, “Hey, I give from this pot and from that pot to you, God, but this other pot over here, that’s for me alone.” All that we have, our skills and our money, are at the disposal of God. Now, we might find that what is required of us is more in one area than another. We are not required to hand everything over all at once. The main idea, though, is that we not get the idea that we can go around being lead by what is “mine.”
As C.S. Lewis put it in The Screwtape Letters, the devil says this of a man who thinks in terms of “what is mine”.
*And all the time the joke is that the word “Mine” in its fully possessive sense cannot be uttered by a human being about anything. In he long run either Our Father or the Enemy will say “Mine” of each thing that exists, and specially of each man. They will find out in the end, never fear, to whom their time, their souls, and their bodies really belong—certainly not to them, whatever happens. At present the Enemy says “Mine” of everything on the pedantic, legalistic ground that He made it: Our Father hopes in the end to say “Mine” of all things on the more realistic and dynamic ground of conquest,
Your affectionate uncle
SCREWTAPE *
It is not so simple as “give it all away” or “keep this percentage” or “allow yourself this defined amount over the poverty level, but no more”. Nevertheless, we and all we have belongs to God. That doesn’t mean we cannot have private property. It certainly doesn’t mean we can judge or covet the property of others, even though they are Christian. What we keep, we need to use according to what will serve him, what we have we need to care for as stewards, what we give away we need to give with prudence, in order to achieve God’s ends, and in all things we need to be honest.
I think the story of Ananias and Sapphira illustrates this:
*The community of believers was of one heart and mind, and no one claimed that any of his possessions was his own, but they had everything in common. With great power the apostles bore witness to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus, and great favor was accorded them all. There was no needy person among them, for those who owned property or houses would sell them, bring the proceeds of the sale, and put them at the feet of the apostles, and they were distributed to each according to need. Thus Joseph, also named by the apostles Barnabas (which is translated “son of encouragement”), a Levite, a Cypriot by birth, sold a piece of property that he owned, then brought the money and put it at the feet of the apostles.
A man named Ananias, however, with his wife Sapphira, sold a piece of property. He retained for himself, with his wife’s knowledge, some of the purchase price, took the remainder, and put it at the feet of the apostles. But Peter said, "Ananias, why has Satan filled your heart so that you lied to the holy Spirit and retained part of the price of the land?
“While it remained unsold, did it not remain yours? And when it was sold, was it not still under your control? Why did you contrive this deed? You have lied not to human beings, but to God.” When Ananias heard these words, he fell down and breathed his last, and great fear came upon all who heard of it. The young men came and wrapped him up, then carried him out and buried him.
After an interval of about three hours, his wife came in, unaware of what had happened. Peter said to her, “Tell me, did you sell the land for this amount?” She answered, “Yes, for that amount.” Then Peter said to her, “Why did you agree to test the Spirit of the Lord? Listen, the footsteps of those who have buried your husband are at the door, and they will carry you out.” At once, she fell down at his feet and breathed her last. When the young men entered they found her dead, so they carried her out and buried her beside her husband.
And great fear came upon the whole church and upon all who heard of these things*.
Acts 4:32-Acts 5:11
