Kicking off the part of the Mass called the Liturgy of the Eucharist, we have what’s called the “Preparation of the Gifts.” Some people commonly refer to this part as the “Offertory” because this is the point in the Mass when we offer gifts to the Church in not only the form of money to help the Church operate, but also in the form of bread and wine that will be used in the Eucharistic Prayer which will follow shortly after. So let’s talk a little bit more about the gifts we bring to God at this point in the Mass and what their importance is in the overall scheme of this shin-dig…or hootenanny…I never know which one to go with.
First of all, the Altar (that big table in the center of the Sanctuary, which we mentioned in an earlier post is reminiscent of the altar of sacrifice from the Old Testament, and symbolic of the cross on which Jesus was sacrificed for our sins) is prepared by placing the corporal (white cloth on which the gifts are placed), purificator (smaller white cloth used to clean Eucharistic vessels—i.e. chalice & ciborium), Sacramentary (book of prayers for Mass, although beginning in Advent 2011, it’ll just be referred to as the (Roman) Missal), and chalice (cup for holding the wine that will become the Blood of Christ in just a few moments) on it. The Altar is the focus and center of the entire Liturgy of the Eucharist, so we show importance to it by this detailed preparation.
While the preparation of the Altar is going on, ushers take up a collection of money from the congregation. The money taken up at the collection here goes to the basic operation of the Church parish, with a portion going on to help with the operation of the diocese as a whole. Each parish has a staff of full-time or part-time employees that answer phones; help families plan baptisms, weddings, and funerals; coordinate youth ministry and Religious Education (CCD) programs; etc. Then there are the basic bills: electricity, water, insurance, maintenance. See, the Church doesn’t provide any real service that it can “charge” for, so it’s a non-profit sort of set-up. Most Catholic Churches these days just hope to break even financially for the year. Unfortunately, because of hard economic times, this isn’t always the case, and many Churches have fallen into debt. The money we put in the collection goes to these basic operations costs. Without money, parishes cannot afford to control their debts, and, as many parishes have seen across the country in the past few years, face the harsh reality of closing their doors.
With this in mind, though, there’s a pretty upsetting mentality amongst many Catholics that causes people to say things like, “I can’t believe the Church is asking for money again!” We need to remember that this is OUR Church, and we need to do our part to keep it going forward. So let’s take the rest of this post to talk about money and the Church, shall we? Many (if not most) Protestant churches seem to be hung up on this idea of giving “one-tenth” of your money to the church. Some churches go as far as to require their members to submit their W-2s (official document that proves your annual income) to the church so that the church staff can see if they truly ARE donating one-tenth to the church. If they’re not, some churches have been known to give those members “the boot”…pretty harsh in my opinion. They call this “tithing” and claim to get it straight from the Bible. To a point, they’re right. The Old Testament mentions giving one-tenth of the harvest of grain of the fields or the produce of fruit of the trees, one-tenth of new pressed wine & oil, and every tenth firstborn animal of the herds or flocks. However, we believe that certain things in the Old Testament are not now necessarily meant to be kept word-for-word. Look at Jesus, Himself. The Ten Commandments included one saying “Keep Holy the Sabbath day.” The Jewish law of the Old Testament went so far as to say that people should not do ANY kind of work on the Sabbath day. However, in Luke 13:10-17 we see that Jesus had no problem doing certain kinds of work on the Sabbath day, and He really tore into the Jewish leaders who criticized him for doing work. Now, this doesn’t mean that we just throw the Old Testament out because Jesus came along and threw it out, Himself. In fact, in Matthew 5:17 Jesus says, “Do not think that I have come to abolish the law or the prophets. I have come not to abolish but to fulfill.”
So how do we interpret all this? Should we give one-tenth? Should we give a fixed amount? What does Jesus say about this? A quick jump over to Luke 21:1-4 shows us exactly how He felt about how much to give:
“When he looked up he saw some wealthy people putting their offerings into the treasury and he noticed a poor widow putting in two small coins. He said, "I tell you truly, this poor widow put in more than all the rest; for those others have all made offerings from their surplus wealth, but she, from her poverty, has offered her whole livelihood."
The Catechism of the Catholic Church says it this way: “…the faithful are obliged to assist with the material needs of the Church, each according to his own ability.” (CCC 2043) So while some churches may try to make you guilty because you don’t put in 10% of your annual household income, the Catholic Church is a little more realistic and understanding, and won’t kick you out if you don’t. The Catholic Church just asks that you give what you can without putting an unnecessary burden on your family and its well-being.
If you are really struggling with the fact that you can’t give as much as you’d like to give, think about other ways you can give. Maybe look into being a Religious Education teacher. Maybe think about proclaiming the Word of God as a Lector. Maybe you could come up with a whole new ministry to provide to the Church. Give to God what you feel called to give, and don’t let others judge you for how much or little you give. In the end, it’ll be between you and God, and that’s all that matters.
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