MAR/APR 2021
UNDERSTANDING THE PARISH TITHE AND GOOD STEWARDSHIP OF OUR TREASURE
H
ave you ever heard this humorous but poignant story? A $100 bill, a $50 bill, a $20 bill, and a $1 bill were hanging out at the bank sharing stories about all the places they had been. The $100 bill began by talking about the places in Europe and Asia he had visited. Then, the $50 bill shared about the operas and best restaurants he had visited and what he had seen there. The two looked at the $20 bill and asked where he had been. He shared that he had been to grocery stores to feed families, and to museums and art galleries to feed the minds of people. Finally, they asked the $1 bill, who hung his head and said he had been to church, and to church, and to church. We hear Jesus say, “Where your treasure is, there also will your heart be” (Mt 6:21). This story has more to do with us than it does the monetary bills. It begs the question — are we ordering our finances responsibly and is the stewardship of our treasure Christian? For the majority of Americans, Christian stewardship of finances is virtually non-existent. Consider the following statistics: • 49 percent of Americans don’t pay their bills on time. • 65 percent of Americans don’t do a good job of staying out of debt. • 82 percent of Americans don’t save adequately for the future. • On average, Americans give less than 2 percent of their income to charity, and Catholics give about 1 percent of their income toward charitable causes. • A majority of those getting divorces point to finances as one of the primary causes of their breakup. All of us have to be conscious of these realities. Even our stewardship committee recently talked about whether giving to
the church or tithing had been part of the discussions as they were growing up. One said that his parents had tithed, but they belonged to a Baptist Church. The others, who were all raised Catholic, said that they knew their parents gave to the Church regularly but they didn’t know how much, and it wasn’t talked about in the family. Why is it we can’t talk about how we give to the Church with our children? Are we uncomfortable, embarrassed, humbled? The continued on back cover
