Two weeks ago, I also spoke about using a portion of our time to improve our relationship with God and using a portion of our time in service to others. I spoke about developing our talents and using them to bless others. As I complete my ninth week with you, I see many wonderful examples of good stewardship when it comes to time and talent. I see lots of people who use a portion of their time to sustain and enrich their relationship with God and lots of people who use a portion of their time and talent to bless our parish and the wider community they belong to.

The Treasure Portion of Stewardship

This weekend, I want to address the treasure or financial aspect of stewardship. Up front, I want to state that I do not see this Sunday's homily or this column as the annual "money talk". Rather I see the homily and column as a discussion about an important aspect of the gospel, just like a homily or column on forgiveness, love, prayer, repentance. The way we make and use our money impacts our relationship with God, just as the way we handle life's hurts and losses.

A few years ago, I read an article that said that the Bible has approximately 500 verses on prayer and faith and approximately 2,350 verses on money, possessions, and how we use them. Why so many verses on money and possessions? I am not certain, but my guess is that God knows well how easily we can become attached to and preoccupied with money and possessions. God knows our heart's greedy and materialistic tendencies. Just think about the amount of time that is consumed:

-making money

-managing and saving money

-spending money

-worrying about money, our investments and possessions.

Jesus knew only too well how money and possessions could easily become the real god in our lives. St. Paul reminds us that the love of money is the root of all evil, not money itself, but our love of it. So the way we handle our check book and finances is intimately connected to our relationship with God.

Tithing

Most Catholics look upon tithing as a Protestant thing. It may be but it is also a Biblical thing. There are several references to tithing in the Old Testament. In the book of Deuteronomy, God says:

Set aside a tithe of all the yield of your seed
that is brought in yearly from the field...so that
the Lord your God may bless you in the work
that you undertake.

While the whole harvest belongs to God, he only asks us to set aside a tithe or 10% as a thanksgiving offering for the harvest and to support his work. While most, if not all Protestant churches ask their people to give a whole tithe to the church. The Catholic Church invites us to consider giving 5% to the church and 5% to charity and to the poor.

Stories of Tithing

Talking about tithing is one thing, listening to peoples stories with this aspect of the gospel is another thing.

A few years after giving my annual homily on tithing, I received the following inspiring letter from a parishioner:

Dear Father Tobin,

Sunday's sermon concerning the Church's finances and the request for parishioners to give five percent of their income compels me to share my testimony of God's blessings. I have been a member of Our Savior's for twenty-two years.

Twenty-two years ago, my husband felt we should tithe ten percent of our income and trust that God would supply our needs as He says in Malachi 3:10. "Bring all the tithes into the storehouse, that there may be food in mine house, and test me now herewith, saith the Lord of hosts, if I will not open for you the windows of heaven, and pour out for you a blessing, then there shall be room enough to receive it."

It was hard to be obedient at first, we had four children and a daughter who is multi-handicapped. Every time we thought we couldn't continue to tithe a raise in salary or an unexpected resource would come to us.

Sixteen years ago my husband had his first heart attack and became totally disabled. He left work under long-term disability. Since then he had another heart attack, four open heart surgeries, a cardiac defibrillator implanted and finally last year a heart transplant. His medical bills have totaled well over a million dollars. I went back to work after his first heart attack and he was home to be with our children.

We have continued to tithe 10% all these years and I would like to mention some of our blessings:

We own our home and are debt free. We have never had to ask for any assistance with medical bills and have paid all of them. We have helped our children with college. We have been able to help others less fortunate even about the 10%. We have a substantial amount saved for retirement and other financial blessings too numerous to mention.

Frankly, that couples faith and trust in God to provide for their needs is far beyond anything I could do. Of course, we never know how we might or might not rise to the occasion when a big challenge or a whole series of challenges are placed in our path. A key part of the tithing belief is that we cannot outdo God with generosity, that if we are generous with him, he will be more than generous with us. A cautionary note is in place here: we could start tithing for the wrong reason. We might say "Wow, look at what happened to that couple or to those people. They really prospered when they started to tithe." Our primary motive for tithing should not be the blessings we will most likely receive as a result of tithing. Our primary motive should be one of gratitude to God who gives us all our financial blessings. He is the one who gives us health and drive etc. to work. So one's weekly offering is always one of gratitude to a God who first blesses us.

Another Story

About a year ago, I went to lunch with a doctor and his wife whose donation jumped from $20 to $200 dollars a week. Needless to say, this increase caught my interest and I wanted to know what happened. (By the way, I do not check weekly donations. I didn't find out about this couple's increase for several months. The parish administrator pointed it out to me.) I knew that the couple were a very spiritual couple. But they did not pay any attention to the part of the Bible that referred to tithing. A non-catholic Christian friend of the doctor's witnessed to him about tithing. He called me and asked if I had any literature giving the Catholic perspective on this issue. I sent him a couple of leaflets. He talked with his wife, a convert to Catholicism. They decided to "bite the bullet" and start tithing. This couple have three very young children and are very happy with their decision to start tithing. Some might say, "if I made a doctor's salary, I would have no problem tithing." My response: don't assume that. It seems lots of people who won the lottery or were left large sums of money in a Will, did not suddenly become generous. In fact, many say that the more money they make, the harder it is to give a whole tithe.

Today, at Mass you listened to the story of a couple from the parish. As I write this column, I do not know what they are going to say.

My Own Story,

Frankly, I'd prefer not to tell my story because I am an introvert and sharing personal stuff is a big stretch for me, one I usually prefer to avoid. All the "big guns" in the area of stewardship tell us Pastors that the people should know how we weigh in on this issue. Hence, my reason for sharing.

For years I have been contributing on a monthly or weekly basis to the church. I would hand in one envelope a month to cover my contribution for the whole month, a practice that many of you follow. When I wrote my monthly check, I didn't check to see what percentage of my monthly income my monthly check represented.

Eleven months ago, I attended a Stewardship Conference in Orlando, which had some excellent speakers, speak about time, treasure and talent. I was so moved by what I heard from lay people and clergy that I decided to make the following four changes:

First: I did some arithmetic on my monthly income, and decided to do what our church invites us to do, give 5% to our parish and 5% to charity/poor. (Probably, as a single man with no kids, I should give a larger percentage. Hopefully, I will). So for the first time I checked what percentage of my income that I gave and started to give 5% to the parish.

Second: I started to give on a weekly basis rather than once a month. If I am away for a weekend or on vacation, my weekly tithe is still given to my local church.

Thirdly: I started to give publicly rather than privately. This was and is still a big stretch for me. I met an Irish priest at the Orlando Conference with a big commitment to stewardship. He told how he has been giving publicly for some time. He said "Eamon, it's a good example. The people need to see your example in this matter" I really didn't want to do it, but somehow I knew that it was the right thing to do and so I stretched my comfort zone. So now, my practice is to place an envelope in the basket at every weekend Mass at which I am the Presider. Of course, only one envelope has my tithe in it. The others are empty.

Fourthly: As a result of the Orlando Conference, I decided to open up a Giving Account. Now when I take a deposit to the bank to place in my regular checking account, I take 10% of it and place it in my Giving Account. That is my little story and I feel very self-conscious telling it. I can't solve all the financial problems in the church or in the world, but I can do my bit. Like all people who move in this direction, I am glad that I have taken the above steps. Like others who tithe, I can say that I don't miss the money and God more than provides for my needs. Also, tithing also helps to keep my stingy and greedy tendencies in check. If you have a story of how you started to tithe, and how it is a blessing in your life, I'd love to hear from you.

Some Reflection Questions.

The following questions my get some people uptight. They are not intended to do so. They are only intended to invite you to reflect on an important aspect of Biblical teaching.