St. Augustine of Canterbury Roman Catholic Parish

Your pastor wants to take this opportunity to explain to you the program which this parish has adopted for its financial support. Some time ago, in a series of sermons, the parishioners were introduced to GOD'S plan-a modern adaptation of the ancient biblical practice of tithing. In addition to the presentation given from the pulpit, literature was also distributed. We have summarized below the main points of the program. We ask you to read this brief explanation. We hope that you will find, as many of your friends and neighbors of this parish have found, that this is the best way to satisfy both your need to acknowledge God's goodness, and the needs of his church.

Almighty God, as a pure and infinitely perfect spirit, has no need of material goods, in his wisdom, however, He has made his work earth, the work of the Church, dependent on material goods. In spite of the entrance of the government into various areas of charity and education, the basic needs of religion must be met by the offerings of individual church members.

It is basic to our human nature and our self-respect to desire to express gratitude when we receive something. All our spiritual and material blessings, even our existence, we have received as a gift from God. God has providentially united our need to acknowledge his goodness with the needs of his Church.

The practical question arises: "How much of our material goods should we return to God?" The only direct answer that god has ever given is the tithe, or 10%. Even though this standard was set in a different economic situation, it is still found to be the best answer to this question. It is both an adequate response and an economically possible one.

We make our return to God wherever we meet him. We meet God In every opportunity to practice charity, either directly to our neighbor, or indirectly through some charitable agency such as Catholic charities, the United Way, etc. Our primary meeting place with God is our parish church. It is here that we unite with the priest in offering the mass and are nourished by the sacraments. Therefore, our return should be made to God in this way: 5% through our parish and 5% through other charities.

This practical solution to church support is being used by more and more people of all
faiths. We hope that these few words of explanation will encourage you to investigate and adopt this program. God bless you, and, welcome once again to our parish.