Parsimony and
Passing the
Buck
Make
not the house of My Father a marketplace!
(St.
John 2.16)
Whats
the going price?
-
Lottery ticket: $5.00 - $20.00
-
Glass of beer: $7.00
-
Cigarettes: $12.50
-
Least Expensive Gallon of Gasoline: $3..25
-
Cup of Coffee at Dunkin' Donuts: $2.80 (Donut, add .99’)
...
and you drop
how much
into the basket at Church every week?
Ill
bet that you said
$1.00
(One Dollar!!!)
Speak of
passing
the buck!
... which of the below is your excuse
for giving as little as possible:
The Lame Litany:
-
Im
on a fixed income even when I go to my winter
condo in Florida every winter. But don't tell my
hairdresser who would probably slap me if I gave
her a one dollar tip for my $55.00 sitting.
-
I
have children and they need $59.00 X-box games
-
I
have grandchildren and they need $59.00 X-box
games
-
Im
married and carrying a $500,000.00 mortgage,
while saving for the Caribbean cruise we take each year.
-
I'm
not married single income, and I need my nails
done this week which will set me back $30.00 ... not
including the $3.00 tip!
-
Im
not working and have just enough for my beer,
salsa, and chips every night as I watch the game on
my 70" flat-screen television
-
I
give annually five dollars.
-
I
already gave once two years ago!
If your Church Grounds
Routinely Become a Flea Market or a Yard Sale to Make Ends
Meet
-
to keep you warm in the winter
-
to keep you cool in the summer
-
to hire a custodian to clean up after you
-
to pay electric bills so you can see the Missal you
don't look at anyway
-
to Baptize your children if you dont use contraception
-
to bury your parents (who didn't use contraception)
-
to hire a
Director
of Religious Education
(DRE) who has no real interest in directing the
religious education of your children according to genuine
Catholic doctrine but who is obsessed with gender,
social justice, and contempt for a
patriarchal
Church
-
to pay for a music
Minister
(Choir Director) who can really emulate
Peter,
Paul and Mary
(not of the gospels, but of the folk music scene of
the 60s
and 70s
although that music genre expired decades ago except
in the Catholic Church ... the last redoubt of the
Age of Aquarius)
-
and to contribute to all the
Professional
Catholics
that make a living off the Church and the Gospel and
who drain the basket with a good deal of redundant
make-work.
Sluggards
aside (and there are many), the reality remains that there
are expenses to be met which your one
dollar bill will not cover. In fact, it's
even too small to cover the shame on your face that you
should feel ... and the shameful example you are setting
for your children.
Didnt
someone once say,
As
you give, it will be given back to you, in full
measure, shaken down and pouring over?
Who
was that ...? Confucius? Seneca? Lau Tzu? Trotsky? ... no
... wait ... Jesus Himself!
Following the Clue to
the Conclusion
The
money-changers and dove-sellers in Jesus Fathers House
were working at the wrong Place at the wrong time. Presumably,
however, they gave you your moneys worth. But you are cheating
the Church, and in cheating the Church you are cheating
God. The money-changers whom Jesus drove out were clueless.
You have every clue. But you are worse, for you cannot follow
the clue to the conclusion that you are cheap. Other euphemisms
and excuses that you hide behind will not do.
Cheap,
cheap!
... if you had wings you could fly. In fact, you do
to the other side of the street whenever you spot a beggar.
And
now you are outraged. Right? Dont take it up with us. Take
it up with God.
Hes
the One Who put it much more succinctly:
As
you give, it will be given back to you.
Think
on it.
Geoffrey
K. Mondello
Editor
Boston Catholic Journal