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AskACatholic:
I am having trouble with the tithing concept. I understand that Catholicism
does not endorse 10% tithe as a rule, but I keep falling back
to that figure since I like hard numbers. I took out my pay stubs and
did a quick search of U.S. federal expenditures to social programs (FICA,
Medicare, Medicaid, Unemployment, Welfare, etc). I calculated that slightly
more than 9% of my pre-tax income goes to charity.
Can I count
this enforced social welfare spending as charity as it
pertains to a tithe?
In short, I am torn between Romans 13:8 and 2 Corinthians 9:7.
- Does
one Scripture passage take precedence over the other?
My wife and I are relatively well off, financially. Our incomes
are more than enough for a comfortable life, but we're paying
off significant debts. We follow the D.R. plan, spending
as little as possible on our current needs but rolling every
last cent toward past debts. We can certainly afford to give
more but would not get out of debt as quickly, hampering our
ability to generate numerically greater giving's by prospering
ourselves.
Now I'm getting into a Mark 12:41-44 issue as well.
Much prayer is needed, but any insight you can provide would
be most welcome.
— John
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