33rd Sunday in Ordinary Time

      I am certainly not the only person to notice or comment in the rise of Tip Jars at every imaginable store or service location. And when it comes to truly quality exceptional service, I’m not at all above leaving a handsome tip to acknowledge it. Nor am I unsympathetic to our local wage structure in restaurants where most of the staffs’ livelihood comes from the tips. In such cases, it seems that the act of tipping is not really tipping so much as simply paying the person who served you your food, so that they can likewise go home and eat! However, lots of non-traditional services are now asking for tips these days. That is probably a reflection of the general struggle to make ends meet paired with the general generosity of the American consumer.

     I’ve been blessed to travel overseas. Especially in Europe, service is most typically included. No tip necessary. Recently, when on Pilgrimage in Poland, I never saw a tip jar. During various travels, I’ve had European wait staff both surprised and pleased when they see the American tourist tip as if they were at home where it’s expected & needed. While I may not tip the same amount, there is a part of me that thinks that if I can enjoy my time away, maybe I should help those helping me to enjoy my time away just a little. It’s an opportunity to share the joy & happiness. And we all need more of that.

     I’ve been talking about our Catholic Christian commitment to respond to God with gratitude and thanksgiving. Last week, I pointed out that the Old Testament Tithe of 10% is not the measure by which we Catholics are measured. In fact, we are measured by an even greater standard – the Cross of Christ who gave everything – He even died naked, with His last few possessions stripped & stolen. As He gave everything, we gained everything. As we hear at the Easter Vigil in the great Exsultet, “Our birth would have been no gain had we not been redeemed.” Everything we have and are is a graced gift from God. We are challenged to live a life of gratitude & thanksgiving with that recognition.

    Is that the place from which you give your offertory to the Church? From the place it was all first gift to you from God. Here in the Mass, we encounter that same Savior in Scripture & Sacrament. That here in the Mass, we receive the incalculable gift of Christ in the Eucharist, Truly Present. Does this mindset – no, does this heartset – motivate an intentional, sacrificial, Christ-centered understanding of the many blessings we possess and are challenged to place at the foot of the Cross.

    Sadly, I sometimes get the sense that for many people, what they place in the offertory basket is more like a tip. A small financial nod to the quality of the homily or music or the preferred Mass time. I don’t mean to sound insulting or unappreciative. The point of these notes has not really been to increase offertory, but to remind us of the spiritual impact of our financial lives. In an age of Socially Responsible Investing (SRI) where even the secular world has started to realize that investments have an ethical impact, we, Catholic Christians, must rediscover that the whole of our lives – including our financial life – is to be entrusted to God. A few questions to ask:

Do you know what you give currently? Have you taken accounting?

1. Do you prioritize your giving for God first or from what is left?
2. Do you strive to make a proportional gift in accord with your abilities & blessings?
3. Do you regularly reflect upon or pray about how you are supporting Christ’ mission & ministry?
4. Does what you offer create any sort of sacrifice or suffering in your daily life?
5. Does what you offer depend upon the priest, the homily, the music, the environment or is it motivated by God’s Grace and the reception of the Scriptures & Sacraments?
6. Does what you offer demonstrate that God is truly central to your life – not for other’s affirmation but standing before the Lord by whom we will all be judged?

     God is not putting out a tip jar each Sunday. Nor does Christ or the Church truly need your offertory. It is you who need to offer, for it is a very real & tangible way we respond to God with Gratitude & Thanksgiving.

Nothing Less than saints for the Holy Family of God.

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

~ Fr Jeremy M. Gries