Tithes & Offerings
Why do We Pay Offerings to the Church?
It is a universal custom in Catholic parishes for the faithful to make a financial offering in exchange for spiritual goods or services received. It is a common practice, for example, to leave a small sum of money before lighting a votive candle in church, or to offer a “Mass stipend” when asking a priest to offer the Holy Sacrifice for a special intention.
Simony
The Church condemns “simony”: the buying or selling of holy objets or spiritual benefits on the grounds of their sacred character. The name “simony” comes from Simon the Magician, who, in the Acts of the Apostles, attempted to offer money to the Apostles that he might receive the Holy Ghost (Acts VIII, 9). Simon incurred the anger of the Apostles and the wrath of God. We recall Our Lord’s outrage at all the buying and selling going on in the Temple, and His holy anger as He cast out those “robbers” who had transformed His Father’s house from “a house of prayer … into a den of thieves” (St. Luke XIX, 46).
We would do well to correct an error mistakenly held by many who believe that a blessed objet may not be sold from one person to another. The Church does not forbid the selling of already-blessed objects. Rather, what she forbids is the selling of the blessing itself. It would be a sin, for example, to sell an object which has been blessed for more money than if were not blessed – however, a priest can very well bless religious items in advance, and then put them up for sale for the same price as it they were not yet blessed. In this case, what is being sold is not the blessing, but rather the object itself; the blessing in no way affects the price of the object concerned.
The Levites’ Portion
To properly understand the duty incumbent on the faithful to provide for the material needs of the clergy and religious, it is helpful to look to the Old Testament – which often was a prefigurement of that which was to be done in the New Testament.
When the Israëlites returned from slavery in Egypt, the Promised Land was divided among eleven of the twelve tribes of Israël. Each of the eleven tribes was given a portion of the land to cultivate and provide food for themselves. But unlike the other eleven tribes, the members of the tribe of Levi were given no portion of land.
The Levites had “no other heritage than the Lord God Himself” (Deuteronomy XVIII, 2) and thus it was expected that they should “eat of the sacrifices of the Lord and His oblations”. (Numbers XVIII, 9).
The other tribes, by their material offerings, were thus to provide for the material needs of this priestly class, whose sole task it was “to stand before the Lord God” (Deuteronomy XVIII, 7), “…serving Him in the tabernacle and bearing the sins of the people” (Numbers XVIII, 23).
Church Offerings
It is much the same with regards to offerings made to the church. Whether it be church duties, the Sunday collection, offerings given upon the reception of certain Sacraments or religious ceremonies (Baptism, Confirmation, Matrimony, funerals), donations given to the priest who must travel to visit an ill person, money one gives to a priest who shall celebrate Mass for an intention chosen, the small sum we pay before lighting a votive candle, etc. – these donations all indeed intended to help cover costs incurred by the church, but also to help provide for the subsistance of the “tribe of Levi”, that is, of the priests, whose service at the altar is their living. Let us call to mind Our Saviour’s words in the Gospel: “the labourer is worthy of his hire” (St. Luke X, 7) – by which it is meant that the clergy and religious are indeed meant to live on the donations of the faithful.
The Value of Almsgiving Joint to Prayer
We know how efficacious prayer is when joined to sacrifice. It is one thing to recite a prayer; it is quite an other to offer God something that “costs us”, and to join this sacrifice to our prayer. Our offerings are a means for us to visibly show God the dispositions we have in our hearts. Furthermore, our gift is also a sign of our gratitude for the graces that come to us through the sacramental or the Sacrement we receive. When we think of how good God is, and how generous He is, granting us blessing after blessing, we spontaneously feel the need to “give something back” to Him by providing for the needs of those whom He has chosen to serve Him in His holy Temple.
