Answering the Tough Questions Tithing and sacrificial giving

Jul 19, 2011

Could you please tell me more about what the Catholic Church believes about tithing?

Tithing is first mentioned in the books of the Old Testament and represents a 10 percent sacrificial gift of one’s produce or income for the benefit of the worship of God by maintenance of the temple and the priests caring for temple worship. Tithing represents a sacrifice, and sacrifice is one of the acts of the virtue of religion, the others being prayer, adoration, and worship.  All peoples in all times in all religions that acknowledge an infinite being have recognized the intrinsic need of sacrificial offerings to God.  In the Christian tradition, the Sacrifice of the Mass is the sacrifice par excellence!

A sacrifice offered to God awakens the soul and sharpens the spiritual powers of perception. Sacrifice is to prayer, what a magnifying glass is to sunlight: it intensifies the power.  Sacrifice is a proof of faith and trust in God, as well as a demonstration of love for God.  Anyone who loves another is always willing to make a sacrifice for the good of the other. 

Not everyone is able to give 10 percent of their income to the Church or to charity; some can give more, others can give less, but it is necessary that everyone make a sacrificial offering on a regular basis, and a sacrificial offering is one that you can feel. Tithing is one way to fulfill the fifth precept of the Church: “You shall help to provide for the needs of the Church.”

On occasion a young man may tell me that he does not get much out of the Mass.  While there may be subjective reasons for this (bad music, bland preaching, confusing architecture, empty stomach), more often the determining factors are subjective (lack of grace, lack of faith, lack of sacrifice.)  Archbishop Fulton Sheen famously quipped “You don’t get much out of the Mass because you don’t bring much to it.”  If you want to enhance the fruitfulness of your participation in Mass, just bring a generous sacrifice.