Vito asked:Is tithing 10% in the Old Testament? Is it the same amount in the New Testament?Patrick Madrid replied:"In the Old Testament tithing was a requirement for those who could perform it. It wasn't an iron requirement that everyone had to do under pain of sin. If you had the ability, then you had the obligation to tithe. And that was reckoned as 10 per cent of your income. Not everyone got paid in money. Some got paid in crops and animals and things of that nature. So there was a ten percent as a rule of what they would donate out of what they received by way of income that year.In the New Testament there is no strict rule of tithing. I know this may come as a shock to some people. I even know some Catholics who insist that tithing is a requirement, and no it's not. What is a requirement is that we must contribute as liberally as we can, as liberally as we're able to the upkeep of the church. To the benefit of the church. And this is not only to keep the lights on ... but all the outreach that the church does, soup kitchens and working with the poor and the needy and the unwed mothers and all the various outreaches that the Catholic church does in parishes and dioceses all across the land. That's part of that precept of the Church, to donate financially as best we can. But there's no stipulation as to any kind of percentage. So lest anybody have the sense that they must give ten per cent, if you can I would say give more. If you can't give ten percent give what you can. Saint Paul says that we should. Not out of compulsion, but out of generosity and in a cheerful way." Copyrights:© 2013 Immaculate Heart Catholic RadioEditor's note: This is an excerpt of the answer provided. For the complete response download the podcast. |  Click icon for archived podcast answering this question in its entirety. Show air date: October 8, 2013 Question appeared in show: 12:01 |
