Well the closure of any churches can be really upsetting for many christians/catholics…However running a church/parish will need funds to maintain its’s premise, utilities, giving to charity…etc…etc…but w/o tithing/offering it wouldn’t work.
Moreover, not many Catholics serve tithing to their parish, then it can put the parish at a difficult position. If the members of the congreration is not having enough to feed themselves, then how wuold they possibly be able to build a stronger church for Jesus ??
Althought, tithing is not instructed by the CC, but nonetheless the Philosophy and Principles of Tithing according to the Rule of St. Michael mentioned the followings for the Catholics:
a) Give back to the Lord in gratitude a portion of everything God has given, whether through paychecks, dividends, unexpected windfalls, Social Security payments, or regular allowances.
b) See the gift as a sacrifice, a donation that seems almost more than affordable, an offering that “makes holy” (the literal meaning of the word “sacrifice”) all the efforts and earnings of the past month.
c) Use whatever means the Local Community may use to identify your tithe as a donation from you, thus both manifesting to others your commitment to regular support of the Community and actively participating in the collection as part of the Community’s Conventual Mass worship.
d) Consider the biblical norm of tithing in determining the amount of your sacrificial gift. The biblical norm was ten (10) percent of gross income. But in addition, there were many other “required” offerings. Both tithes and offering could equal more than one-third (1/3) of a families’ gross income. The specific amounts or percentages recommended for members shall be discussed in the General Directory.
- Tithing means to give of a person’s gross income. The tithe, however, is only a barometer, guideline, or estimating level for one’s sacrificial giving. Some can and should offer more than the recommended amount of their tithe; others may return less than that percentage.
- If the amount of the suggested tithe is legitimately too much for one’s current budget, a member may begin with a lower percentage that will be both sacrificial and yet possible. Then the member may gradually raise the level of giving until the full suggested amount is reached. In this way brothers and sisters and families are making a decision for the Lord first and only afterward considering their own needs and wants.
- Families should involve their children in tithing by teaching them through word and by example the priority of returning to God a portion of the blessing He has given us. Children may do this through tithing their allowances or income from part-time jobs.
- Those faithful Christians who tithe report how remarkably their material needs have been met. Moreover, they will cite these blessings as even greater, spiritual rewards:
- a sense of serenity and satisfaction that comes from generosity;
- an awareness that God comes first, even in decisions about money;
- a recognition that one has eliminated the practice of making contributions that are mere leftovers or contributions of habit;
- a deep sense of satisfaction in the progress made by the Order due to the amount of tithing by its members;
- an ability to distinguish between wants and needs;
- a deeper consciousness of society’s materialism and consumerism;
- A keener appreciation of the world’s poor and how we should and can alleviate their pain and poverty;
- A quiet confidence in the Lord’s protective care.
