Rev Fr Benjamin Chang
St Peter Church, Kiphire Town
Just recently someone brought up about the practice of Indulgence (collection of money) in the Catholic Church. Which is actually irrelevant to the practices of the present Church, as it is dead and gone long ago with the Dark Ages. So many people requested me for the clarity on Tithes, Offerings and Money Collections. I am writing this article, keeping in mind the 2020 Circular of our Bishop James Thoppil about the Tithes and Collections.
Catholic Church is a Universal Church and the Indulgence (collection of money) was practiced in some parts of Germany. Thanks to Martin Luther, a Catholic monk for going against the Catholic Church. It was his protests that led to Counter Reformation in the Catholic Church. Pope Paul III convened the Council of Trent, which lasted from 1545 to 1563 (18 years) and brought about so many changes. I only wished that Martin Luther could have patiently waited for some time and was part of the Reformation within. It brought about so many disciplinary reforms and led to the resurgence of many Saints within the Catholic Church. Anyways, history tells us that everything happens for good. In life, we all go through ups and downs.
Tithes and Offerings in the Old Testament:
Tithe is a percentage of one's income, usually ten percent, given as an offering to God. Israelite law (cf. Lv 27:30) prescribed that a tenth of all produce, animals and plants be designated for the Lord God. All the Scriptural verses of the Old Testament that is related to the Tithes speak about Agricultural and Livestock Tithes. Those times, coins were used as money, but it doesn't speak about coin tithes. People would bring dinars to Jerusalem, then buy sheep, dove or other cattles from around the temple and make an offering to God. Even though the coins were used those years, it was not the coins that were offered to God as a Tithes or Sacrifices.
Coin Collections was not the focal point. Of course many temple worshippers of Old Testament didn’t fail to put coins into the treasury box which was kept inside the Temple. Even today, one will find that donation or Tithe boxes are kept in the Catholic Churches of cities and towns. When we refer both the book of Kings, one can find in many verses that points to the fact that the Temple Treasury was so rich because of the offering of the people of God. 2 Kings 12:16 says that “the money from the guilt offerings and the money from the sin offerings was not brought into the house of the LORD” Corrupt and sinful money was not allowed to be brought to the Temple, as it will spoil the sanctity of the Temple. In Mark 12:41-44 Jesus speaks about The Widow’s Offering: Jesus sat down opposite the place where the offerings were put and watched the crowd putting their money into the temple treasury. Many rich people threw in large amounts. But a poor widow came and put in two very small copper coins, worth only a few cents. Calling his disciples to him, Jesus said, “Truly I tell you, this poor widow has put more into the treasury than all the others. They all gave out of their wealth; but she, out of her poverty, put in everything—all she had to live on.” In Old Testament and Jesus time, people made generous coin offerings to God. But it was not a coin ten tithes, as the ten tithes in those years were just confined to Agricultural products and livestock.
The tithe is specifically mentioned in the Books of Leviticus, Numbers and Deuteronomy. The tithe system was organized in a seven-year cycle, the seventh-year corresponding to the Shemittah-cycle in which, yearly tithes were broken-off into every third and sixth-year of this cycle. Which means, when an average man or a rich person pays two tithes within seven years, the poor people made only one tithe in six years. These tithes were similar to government taxes for the people of Israel and it was mandatory, not optional giving. During this tithe, the agricultural or livestock tithes could be replaced by money tithes (Deuteronomy 14:24-25). This tithe was distributed locally "within thy gates" to support the Levites and assist the poor. (Deuteronomy 14:28)
FINANCIAL GIVING IN THE NEW TESTAMENT:
Though the tithe played an important part in the Old Testament, it is surprising to note that not a single time does the New Testament speaks about Ten Tithe offerings to the temple. It doesn’t give any instructions about giving tithes or offerings to the Church. Jesus mentions Pharisees who tithe (cf. Mat 23:23, Lk 11:42) but He never commanded his disciples to tithe. The writer to the Hebrews refers to Abraham paying tithe to Melchizedek and Levi paying his tithe to Melchizedek through Abraham (cf. Heb. 7:2, 5). He uses this analogy to show the superiority of the priesthood of Christ to the Levitical priesthood; he never taught his reader to follow their method.
St. Paul was a very powerful Roman Citizen, but after his conversion he became a Missionary and supported his missionary work as a Tent Maker (Acts 18: 3, 2 Thessalonians 3: 8). St. Paul says "nor did we eat anyone’s food without paying for it. On the contrary, we worked night and day, laboring and toiling so that we would not be a burden to any of you." He writes about sharing material possessions to care for the needs of the poor (cf. l Cr. 16:1-3, 2 Cor. 8: 9, Eph. 4:28) and to sustain the Christian ministry (cf. 1 Cor 9). He urges and commands generosity (2 Cor 9:6, 8:1 -5) but never does he demand, as a command from God, that any specific amount or proportion be given. All of Paul’s special vocabulary about giving indicates that for the Christian giving is voluntary, an act of free will, a non-compulsory sharing of his material possessions with no stipulated amount, such as tax or tithe is demanded of us. Acts of the Apostles ends saying that St. Paul stayed two full years in a rent quarters at his own expenses and he welcomed all who came to him, preaching the kingdom of God and teaching concerning the Lord Jesus Christ with all openness, unhindered.
St. Thomas left his family members to preach the good news. He supported his Missionary work through his profession as a Carpenter. He came to India and got killed. There are some people who take delight in associating the present Catholic Church with the Dark Ages but are blind to see the hardworking professional priests, nuns or the Church Campus workers who never get a salary from the community they serve.
FINANCIAL GIVING IN THE CATHOLIC TRADITION:
For the early Fathers of the Church, and for the writers of the New Testament, the tithe was a thing of the past; as the new principle of giving was guiding them then. Not even the equivalent words for the tithe appear in the writings of the Church Fathers. John Cassian (5th Century) is one of the few who uses the word tithing. But he uses it in a very flexible way, sometimes referring to things given for support of the monastery, sometimes referring to the strict Lenten practices of his time. Financial giving in the early Church seems to have as its focus, concern for the poor (that is social concern) and works of charity, rather than the support of clergy and the places of worship. This is understandable when we realize that most of the preachers and writers in the early Church were those who had renounced the world and it possessions. The monasteries had their own land to support themselves and the little else that was needed was provided by the villagers around.
TITHING IN THE PRESENT AGE
In the 20th century a new trend has emerged, first among Protestants and more recently among Catholics. The proper objectives of the contributions made by the worshiping members are principally for expenses of divine worship, for the provision fitting to support the Church ministers, and for carrying out of the apostolate of evangelization and charity, especially for the needy” (CCC: 1254) Thus to meet the needs of supporting the minister and to finance missionary outreaches, the system of tithe is introduced in many Churches. Members were often encouraged and obliged to contribute one tenth of the income for this purpose.
Late Bishop Abraham in his pastoral letter on Tithes and Collections dated on 14th June, 1985 encourages the Catholic Members of the Church to give freely one tenth of one’s income to the Church as a sign of gratitude to God for his abundant blessings and sign of stewardship and collaboration in the activities and mission of the Church. The Tithes are added to the Sunday offerings. One third of the total collection during the year is given to the Parish for the priest’s maintenance and two third is kept with the local Church for the payment of Local Catechist, maintenance of the Church, common celebrations and all other expenses.
Conclusion:
2 Corinthians 9:7 says, "Each of you should give what you have decided in your heart to give, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver.”
Tithing is more of a heart issue than a financial one. If you’re struggling with the idea of giving even the yearly tithing, spend some time asking God to give you wisdom around the topic and show you ways that you can help others or even just be more generous. Even while you’re paying down debt, you can still have an attitude of giving and be more generous.
Matthew 23:23, Jesus warns against focusing too much on the rules of tithing without paying attention to the more important things like justice, mercy and faithfulness.
The word tithing makes some simply people to scratch their head every month. Many are afraid and ashamed to be tagged zero in the collection circulations. They have Tithes envelopes from so many Churches and it’s difficult to make a choice. Some prefer to siphon off, indulge in corrupt means in order to maintain or be beyond their status. How long can we keep competing over tithing? No one is more or less in tithes. God knows our heart, our thoughts. He knows the source. He knows everything. “Give, and it will be given to you. A good measure, pressed down, shaken together and running over, will be poured into your lap. The measure you give will be the measure you get back.” (Luke 6:38)
