32nd Sunday in Ordinary Time

Can you imagine watching everyone around you bringing in their harvest and enjoying the bounty of God’s creation, but you yourself a landless resident? Yes, there is much hard work in the harvest, but the benefits are immense. The Tribe of Levite experienced this every year in the Old Testament. Also in the Old Testament, the Tithe was particularly to support the landless Tribe of Levi who were dedicated to and tasked with leading prayer, worship & sacrifice in the Meeting Tent (i.e., Tabernacle) and then later in the Temple worship.

     Then the Lord said to Aaron: You shall not have any heritage in their land nor hold any portion among them; I will be your portion and your heritage among the Israelites. To the Levites, however, I hereby assign all tithes in Israel as their heritage in recompense for the labor they perform, the labor pertaining to the tent of meeting” (Numbers 18:20-21)

     The tithe was the first 10% of the fruits of the land & livestock given over to the landless priests. In the early, especially pre-kingdom, days of Israel, the tithe was an effective, legitimate tax. It was not optional but required. It was also the first part, not the middle or last part. (Consider how for most of us, the IRS takes withholdings from our paychecks before we get the rest.) It supported the immense public Good of God’s Worship. The tithe supported the landless Levite priests so they could serve at the altar. Such worship is considered the highest good, as it was the service & sacrifice to the One True God. It thus benefited all the tribes of Israel, and was thus supported by all the tribes.

      Each week at Mass, the Offertory Basket is presented – right after the homily… oh, the pressure!!! An offering is not a tithe. Yet, the offering does still support the mission & ministry of the local parish and the greater Church. (I’m also well aware that more than 50% of our parish offerings here at Holy Family are made using our digital e-giving Parish Soft platform. www.holyfamilynewalbany.org/giving) While some Bible-alone type denominations expect an authentic 10% tithe for support of their ministry, that has not been the practice of the Church since its first days. Neither Jesus nor the Apostles wanted to tax – force – the people to give, but rather, invited them to respond in gratitude & thanksgiving to the manifold graces & gifts God had given them through Gospel & their new life in Christ. The Acts of the Apostles suggests a close communal living with a strong sense of the common good shared among the first believers. “All who believed were together and had all things in common; they would sell their property and possessions and divide them among all according to each one’s need” (Acts 2:44-45). People made substantial offerings to the support of the Apostles & Church, the Mission & Ministry. But it was motivated freely from within. This is still true within the Church & parish life.

     The Church does state in the Catechism that a pseudo-sixth Precept of the Church is: “The faithful also have the duty of providing for the material needs of the Church, each according to his/her abilities” (CCC 2043). Supporting the material needs of the Church, while not compulsory, is expected. And the amount is not a strict tithe – 10% - but “according to one’s abilities.” Those who have been blessed with more are expected to proportionally provide more, because they have more ‘ability’.

      Giving, in and of itself, does not make one holy. Yet, my antidotal experience has suggested to me that those who belong, believe. Those who believe, give. Those who volunteer, give. Those who are truly invested in the well-being of the parish, give. Those who acknowledge first-hand what God had given them in terms of blessings (material, intellectual, physical, spiritual), give more. And these folks often give to God first, from their first fruits, not from what is left over once done chasing their own pursuits.

The Church does not require a Tithe – the first 10%. But those who approach Christ with grateful hearts give God abundantly from their first fruits.

Nothing Less than saints for the Holy Family of God.

Holy Family, rich in gratitude & thanksgiving, Pray for us.

~ Fr Jeremy M. Gries