At Financial Foundations for the Family, people contact us for a multitude of reasons. Many of the letters and calls come from families struggling with oppressive amounts of consumer debt who are desperately looking for freedom from this bondage. Other letters come from young families facing not only the realities of raising a two-year-old, but also the fact that, up to now, they have been managing their finances by the seat of their pants. As the magnitude of the task of supporting a family sets in, they realize the critical importance of family finances, and they are eager to learn about the basics of money management.

For those of you who have followed this apostolate, you know we believe that true financial freedom can only be achieved when you make Christ the head of your finances. So while we help families with a wide range of practical issues such as budgeting and debt repayment, our primary desire is to help families follow God's design for their finances as set forth in Sacred Scripture and Church Teaching. This includes the concept of tithing.

In this article, we want to show you that tithing is solidly rooted in the teaching of the Catholic Church. When you're done, you'll have a better understanding as to why we tithe. In the next issue, I'll give practical tips and examples that will show you how to tithe. Let's begin by examining what canon law has to say about this subject. In section 222, we read, "The Christian faithful are obliged to assist with the needs of the Church so that the Church has what is necessary for divine worship, for apostolic works and works of charity and for the decent sustenance of ministers. They are also obliged to promote social justice and, mindful of the precept of the Lord, to assist the poor from their own resources." You'll notice that this is an obligation, but canon law doesn't explicitly define how we are to fulfill in practice the obligation.

Sacred Scripture and the writings of Thomas Aquinas can show us how we should practically meet this obligation. It's clear in numerous places in the Old Testament (Deut. 14:22-29 for example), that the tithe was the model provided by God for supporting divine worship and meeting the needs of the poor. Tithe specifically means "one tenth" and as described in the Old Testament, was based on the first fruits of all of your produce (Deut. 18:4; Proverbs 3:9-10).

There are some who feel that the tithe was "old law" only and that our Lord did away with it. I don't agree with that assessment. In Matthew 23:23, our Lord is chastising the Pharisees for being legalistic about how they tithe, not for the act of tithing itself. He wants a conversion of heart (Ezek. 11:19-20), but he lets them know they should continue the good works. In the Summa Theologica, Thomas Aquinas provides a detailed answer on the tithe in question 87 of volume 2. In his answer, he concludes that the tithe is not "old law" only, but arises partly from natural law and partly from the institution of the Church. He also concludes that the Church, based on the requirements of the time, can ordain the payment of some different amount. He briefly addresses the issue of the poor paying tithes, and concludes that they should, but that the Church also has a responsibility for assisting the poor from tithes received. You can see how if we were faithfully living this out how both the Church and the poor would have sufficient resources to meet their needs. It's clear that the Church does require that we support Her needs and the needs of the poor, and the only model we've been given is the tithe (ten percent).1

Looking back at the families I have had the privilege of counseling over the last three years, a few have fallen into the trap of a scrupulous attitude toward tithing, but the vast majority have been lax in their willingness to turn their finances over to Christ. This can be seen more clearly with the statistic that American Catholics only give about 1% of their income for charitable purposes. Neither of these extremes is what our Lord calls us to. Most families need a little (sometimes a big) "push" towards the ten percent figure because they have been overly influenced by our society's materialistic attitude. Remember, our Holy Father tells us that we have become a society of having rather than being. Without the tithe as a model to follow, we tend to be overly influenced by our society's "have it all" mentality, and as a result fail to develop the virtue of charity.

I recently received a letter that captures the essence of what our attitude should be when it comes to tithing, and I'd like to share a portion of it with you. I know this family to be of very modest means, which makes the comments all the more inspiring. Tithing is about love and living our Catholic faith in all its fullness. This family is doing both in a beautiful way.

"We have learned, sometimes the hard way, that it is perfectly safe to give more than you think you can afford. This is a mystery and I still can't figure it out, but it is true. If you want God to bless your endeavors, help Him bless some other needy organization's endeavors. I don't think this is a "payback" situation as much as that if we show God that we are trying to learn how to love, He watches over us. Money is both a blessing and a test for all of us, whatever our income is. If we use it selfishly to take care of ourselves only, God must decide that He'll leave us to manage on our own, since we seem to want to. If we can control our fear and our avarice and toss the money where He shows us He wants it, He sees that we trust Him to be our Father and He acts as such in all our endeavors. This is the only explanation I can offer for the fact that, while we have of course been surprised by sudden large expenditures like everyone else, somehow the money has always been there. We have never gone hungry because we helped someone else eat."

Let us all pray that, through the intercession of St. Joseph, we receive the grace necessary to detach ourselves from bondage to earthly things and to grow in a spirit of generosity.

God love you!

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1 For a treatment on tithing by a Church Council see, The Canons and Decrees of the Council of Trent, translated by H.J. Schroeder, (Rockford, IL, Tan Books, 1978), twenty-fifth session, chapter XII, pp. 245-246. For a good historical survey of tithing in the Old Testament and within the Catholic Church, see, The Catholic Encyclopedia, (New York, NY, The Encyclopedia Press, 1913), Vol. XIV, pp. 741-742.

Philip Lenahan is founder and president of Financial Foundations for the Family.