Father Dave answers a listener’s question about Church donations. Shonda asks, “I always go to Mass on vacation. If I’m a visitor at a parish, should I give in the collection, even if I’m still giving at home?”
Father Dave begins, “Thanks for asking on behalf of all pastors out there — pastors of home parishes where everybody flees [on vacation], and pastors of those all-important resort area parishes. I think you probably guess what I’m going to say: yes, please do. But when you ask, ‘Should I?’ or is it some sort of requirement that we give a certain amount? No. All of our giving is free will giving.”
RELATED: A Jubilee Summer: How to Bring God on Vacation
He notes that many parishes do struggle financially despite misconceptions. “People always say, ‘The Church has all that money and gold at the Vatican,’ but all politics is local,” Father Dave says. “[For example,] Our Lady of the Snows parish on the corner in small-town USA doesn’t get to call up the Vatican and say, ‘Can you sell one of those Raphael paintings? Because we have a building project.’” He also highlights how Churches in vacation towns have practical expenses all year round despite how many people are in the pews.
Father Dave describes how our financial relationship with the Church is not transactional, like other modern expenses. “The concept of tithing is not about what I’m getting for this. It’s about how I believe that God has given me so much, so I should be moved to give back,” he says. “People look at some scriptural resources to say we should give 10% [of our income], but we often don’t take it literally in terms of what people need to financially give.”
“The idea of the Old Testament concept is carving out some for God to give back,” Father Dave continues. “When we say ‘for God,’ Obviously, you don’t throw the money and God’s up there in heaven counting it. It is for God’s community and God’s divine purposes here on Earth.”
LISTEN: Missing Mass on Vacation?
Father Dave adds that tithing does not strictly mean donating to a parish. “There’s a lot of worthy causes, both within the Catholic world and even just good causes that the Church would agree with and support,” he says. “Some people do need to make choices and say, ‘This is what we will be able to give to charitable causes, and some of that is going to go to my parish.’”
“It’s certainly up to you to decide how you are called to give back. It’s not necessarily that exact number of 10% that we see sometimes referenced in the Scriptures, but in your prayer, whatever God is calling you to give,” Father Dave says.
