Parsimony and
Passing
the Buck
|
"Make
not the house of My Father a marketplace!"
(St.
John 2.16)
|
What's
the going price?
-
Lottery
ticket: $5.00 - $20.00
-
Glass of
beer: $4.00
-
Cigarettes:
$9.50
-
Least Expensive
Gallon of Gasoline: $3.75
-
Cup of
Coffee at Dunkin' Donuts: $1.80 (Donut, add .90’)
... and you
drop
how much
into the basket at Church every week?
I'll 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:
-
I'm
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 $60.00 X-box games
-
I
have grandchildren and they need $25.00 X-box
games
-
I'm
married and carrying a $300,000.00 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 $16.00
... not including the $3.00 tip!
-
I'm
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 don't 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 60's and 70's 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.
Didn't 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' Father's House were working at
the wrong Place at the wrong time. Presumably, however,
they gave you your money's 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? Don't take it up with us. Take it up
with God.
He's the One
Who put it much more succinctly: "As
you give, it will be given back to you.
Think on it.
Editor
Boston Catholic Journal
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