Since the time of Christ, the medium of salvation is the one true Church started by Christ Himself. The Church plays a tremendous role in God’s plan for the salvation of the human race. Our Lord has such deep love for His Church that Scripture tells us this Church is the Bride of Christ.

Wouldn’t it be inconceivable that God would have a plan for feeding the birds of the air and clothing the lilies of the field, but would have no plan for the support of His Church? Christ told us to go out and preach the Gospel — missionary work. It would be unreasonable to think that God had no plan for the support of His missionaries. It would be unreal that God, Who has a plan for the existence of the lowly worm in the field, would have no plan for the building and operating of a church and school for His worship and to teach children about Himself.

Of course, God has a plan and it is known as the tithe. It is a plan whereby every Catholic wage earner gives the first tenth of his earnings back to God. The tithe can be given not only in money but in various services to the Church and clergy.

We can see from the previous chapter on history of tithing that the practice of the support of the Church is to be supported by the obligation to support the Church, which is the obligation to support one’s parish.

Strangely enough, the obligation to support the Church doesn’t motivate the people sufficiently. Church financing plays a major part in the worries of a pastor. It is a time-consuming struggle for the pastor. Many pastors are forced to beg for money 20 times a year. This situation is as tragic as the unbuilt temple in Jerusalem complained about by God in the Book of Haggai: “The Temple has walls but no roof.”

The one true Church which Christ founded — the Bride of Christ — should not depend on bingos, church raffles, festivals, and multiple fund-raising gimmicks for its support. Is this worthy of God’s Church? Is this really the way God wants it? What is God’s plan for the support of His Church? The mind of God has been revealed to us by Scripture and by the traditions of the Church. God’s plan is the tithe which reflects the concept of stewardship. There is no other plan given us in the Scriptures. The Bible speaks of the tithe in the Old Testament and New Testament a total of 46 times.

The inadequacies of the past system are becoming  all too apparent to the modern American pastor. Here are some of the reasons why:

1. Without tithing, too little money is brought in. It leaves the pastor bewildered as to how to meet the increasing demands of the parish.
2. Systems other than tithing overburden the priests. They consume his time, from buying paper plates for the church suppers to delivering tickets for the next lawn party. It is consuming time he should spend on the spiritual needs of the parish.
3. Ticket selling is an aggravation to the people. Basically, the people dislike this type of system. It leaves them with the idea that Father is always talking about money — always talking up the next project to be financed.
4. The most important deficiency in this system of raffles, etc., is that though the people donate, they get little or no spiritual profit. When you buy a ticket on an automobile, you have your reward when you win. You certainly can’t expect a reward from God. When a man pays for three chances on a ham at a church bazaar, he’s looking forward to the ham. It is not a complete giving of the money to God. You give the money if you lose the raffle, but you want to win the raffle! In many cases people use religion to excuse a little desire to gamble.
5. There is a natural need of an individual to give to God because He is God. God really doesn’t need money, but people need to give. This is to help the creature keep constantly in his mind the fact that everything he has comes from God. The non-tithing system does not answer this inner need of the individual to admit to himself that God comes before everything else, and everything he has comes from God.
6. Another serious flaw in the non-tithing system is that our missionaries do not have all the funds they need to spread the knowledge of the one true Church.

On the other hand, Catholics who tithe are blessed with these advantages: (1) There would be enough funds for parish needs; (2) The priest would have more time for things for which he was ordained; (3) The people would be relieved of the selling of tickets and working on fund raising schemes; (4) The people would receive tremendous spiritual and material benefits from God; (5) It would be a means for the people to admit their dependence on God; (6) The average parish would be able to give more than twice as much as they give now to the missions; (7) There will be no collection at the novenas and any other Church service; (8) It settles once and for all in the minds of many Catholics, just how much they should give to God.

Will the average Catholic tithe

The answer might sound amazing, but from experience we say: “Yes.” Tithing and the spirit of tithing must be taught to the people. It can be introduced to the people successfully in one or two well-given sermons.

It makes no difference if the individual is rich or poor. The rich must admit exteriorly by tithing that what they have comes from God. The poor person (and at times the middle-class person) might say: “I can’t afford to tithe.” The answer is: “I can’t afford not to tithe.”  We can’t pass up the material and spiritual rewards God promises the person who tithes.

We know innumerable cases of people who used to give what they thought was a generous $5.00 and now give $10.00 weekly. People tell me how much happier they are. So many tell me the way God has taken care of them. As I’m writing, a parishioner walked in the rectory with a $100.00 check. It was his tithe of his unexpected Christmas bonus of $990.00. The people have grown to love giving to God. It is storing up treasures in Heaven. As the saying goes, “You can’t take it with you, but you can send it ahead of you!”

A reasonable person knows he can’t outdo God in generosity. Putting most or part of that tithe in the bank, just in case God won’t come through, is like (as God once said in the Book of Haggai) putting your money into bags with holes in them. In the Book of Malachi, God asks to be tried. He says, “Try Me in this (tithe) and see if I open not unto you the floodgates of Heaven and pour you out blessings in abundance.”

The pastor who actually questions the workability of the tithe is unknowingly insulting God. The system was instituted by God and hence, it is unholy to question its wisdom – to ask if it will work. If there is a failure in it, the fault is with the way it was taught to the people. Remember, God gives enough grace to the people. He takes care of that.

Pastors should not underestimate the faith and generosity of their people — nor the grace God gives them.

Apart from the success mentioned in our first chapter we point to the many Protestant denominations where it works so admirably and efficiently. There are the examples of men like John D. Rockefeller. He claims if he hadn’t tithed the first $1.50 he earned he would not have been able to tithe $1 million later on. The following also thank God for tithing: William Colgate, Heinz (of the 57 varieties), Kraft (of Kraft Cheese), and Hershey are just a few of the wealthy who tithe.

I personally don’t have to look at big names to study the blessing of tithing. I have tithed since 1957 starting with ordination. The floodgates of blessings in abundance have come my way in huge amounts; whether it is in physical health, spiritual opportunities in the ministry of the priesthood, and even materially: 68 years of priesthood which allowed me to teach high school students for 26 years full-time, 18 years of TV work before Mother Angelica, writing a weekly “From The Pastor’s Desk” for [35] years, teaching the RCIA class for [over 40] years, and having perpetual adoration for [30] years in the present parish, as well as being surrounded by saintly parishioners. The material blessings, though not as important, are too great to mention.

God simply does not belong in the lineup awaiting His share. If one gives to God after all other demands are met, then such a person has a wrong concept of his obligations and a complete misunderstanding of God’s plan in his life. God demands, and must get, the first fruits of one’s labor — not the leftovers.

For the person who adopts the plan of tithing we can promise amazingly satisfying reward, spiritually, on the strength of God’s promise; materially also, because God has yet to be outdone in generosity.

God has said through the prophet Malachi, in Malachi 3:10: “Try Me in this (tithing) and see if I don’t open unto you the floodgates of Heaven with blessings in abundance.”