Almsgiving

[Gnarwhal]

Do you give alms regularly? If so, how do you usually go about doing it? Does your parish have a fund/charity/shelter that you give to or do you typically just write a check to an independent charity of some kind? If so, which one? I'm just curious what my options are because I don't feel comfortable just giving cash to someone on the street (I never carry cash anyway).

I don't necessarily just want to donate to the Salvation Army or something either just because I'd prefer to give to a Catholic charity.

 

[Michie]

We tend to do a combo. We give financially while I also lend time and talent.

 

[Tigger45]

Typically through the church. I think it’s important to have the same vision as the congregation you are a member of.

 

[pdudgeon]

I do several things, but I'll just put a few of them here for reference.

Priests of the Sacred Heart, Association of the Miraculous Medal,
Covenant House, Missionary Oblates of Mary Immaculate,
Franciscan Friars Of The Atonement, Graymoor.

all the above are worthy, and can probably be found on the web if you google them.
(and yes, I also carry cash, for ours is a poor neighborhood where most of the children eat subsidized breakfasts and lunches provided by the schools.)

 

[Gnarwhal]

Typically through the church. I think it’s important to have the same vision as the congregation you are a member of.

Interesting point, I hadn't thought of that before.

I do several things, but I'll just put a few of them here for reference.

Priests of the Sacred Heart, Association of the Miraculous Medal,
Covenant House, Missionary Oblates of Mary Immaculate,
Franciscan Friars Of The Atonement, Graymoor.

all the above are worthy, and can probably be found on the web if you google them.
(and yes, I also carry cash, for ours is a poor neighborhood where most of the children eat subsidized breakfasts and lunches provided by the schools.)

I didn't realize that giving to religious communities counted as almsgiving! That's cool.

 

[Tigger45]

Interesting point, I hadn't thought of that before.



I didn't realize that giving to religious communities counted as almsgiving! That's cool.

Personally I consider the part of my ‘offering’ even through the collection plate as part of my alms giving. I find out what portion directly supports the congregation ‘tithes’ and what portion supports local charitable situations ‘alms’. I rarely give directly to persons on the street preferring my giving is pooled together with others multiplying the effect of the giving.

 

[Gnarwhal]

Personally I consider the part of my ‘offering’ even through the collection plate as part of my alms giving. I find out what portion directly supports the congregation ‘tithes’ and what portion supports local charitable situations ‘alms’. I rarely give directly to persons on the street preferring my giving is pooled together with others multiplying the effect of the giving.

It's also such an uncertain thing nowadays to give money to a stranger on the street. There are so many transients out there who run scams and take advantage of people's generosity. I've had people try to say once the money's out of our hands then it's none of our business how it's used, but I don't agree with that. I'm not going to contribute to someone's habit, full stop. Most transients know this so they're dishonest about their intentions with any generosity. It's better to give to something that offers the poor and homeless goods and services rather than cash.

 

[pdudgeon]

Interesting point, I hadn't thought of that before.



I didn't realize that giving to religious communities counted as almsgiving! That's cool.

yes, in days gone by many of the religious houses would send their brothers out into the city to beg for alms.
These days they do it by mail which is quicker and more efficient, but it's still alms.

 

[Tigger45]

It's also such an uncertain thing nowadays to give money to a stranger on the street. There are so many transients out there who run scams and take advantage of people's generosity. I've had people try to say once the money's out of our hands then it's none of our business how it's used, but I don't agree with that. I'm not going to contribute to someone's habit, full stop. Most transients know this so they're dishonest about their intentions with any generosity. It's better to give to something that offers the poor and homeless goods and services rather than cash.

Exactly. And let's say the $5 I hand a street beggar actually gets used to buy lunch. Most 'soup kitchens' can stretch that same $5 to feed three people rather than just one.

 

[pdudgeon]

Exactly. And let's say the $5 I hand a street beggar actually gets used to buy lunch. Most 'soup kitchens' can stretch that same $5 to feed three people rather than just one.

So why not do both?

You feed the hungry in any case, and you also get to help someone who needs your help now.

Begging is not an easy thing to do.
In fact, it's a very humiliating thing to do. I know.
I've done it when my money wouldn't stretch till the end of the month, and the cashier at the cafeteria of the store where I was working full time held my note until pay day, when I could pay off the debit.

When I was younger and had two children at home under 4 years old to feed, and my husband had a full time job that was careful to pay him just enough that we couldn't apply for food stamps and thus embarrass the company, a local grocery store owner carried my grocery bill for two months.

That wasn't an easy thing for those generous people to do in either case, but they did it.
And 50 years later I have never forgotten their generosity.

That's why I think it's a good thing to "pay it forward" whenever we can.

 

[Tigger45]

So why not do both?

You feed the hungry in any case, and you also get to help someone who needs your help now.

Begging is not an easy thing to do.
In fact, it's a very humiliating thing to do. I know.
I've done it when my money wouldn't stretch till the end of the month, and the cashier at the cafeteria of the store where I was working full time held my note until pay day, when I could pay off the debit.

When I was younger and had two children at home under 4 years old to feed, and my husband had a full time job that was careful to pay him just enough that we couldn't apply for food stamps and thus embarrass the company, a local grocery store owner carried my grocery bill for two months.

That wasn't an easy thing for those generous people to do in either case, but they did it.
And 50 years later I have never forgotten their generosity.

That's why I think it's a good thing to "pay it forward" whenever we can.

I do both but with both I am selective. I don't give to all charitable organizations either because I don't always appreciate the handling of my donation.

 

[pdudgeon]

I realize that charitable giving is an individual choice, guided by God, and thus is between that person and God. I have no problem with that.

And so on a personal level, I have been led by the good examples of my family members who came before me, by clergy that I have known and listened to, and by the Gospels.

What I found is that God gives us opportunities to give, and there is a vast difference in the amounts that He asks of us.

The range includes everything from the Widow's 2 mites, all the way up to our very lives, and everything in-between.

I would be the first person to acknowledge that I have not always given what God asked of me, because neither my faith nor my understanding was up to the mark when He asked.
But I do remember several times asking Him to give me another chance to give. And He did.

Both my faith and my understanding have grown over the years as a result of those requests from God.
But that doesn't mean that His challenges have stopped coming, or that they are any easier for me to meet. It just means that my faith is still in the process of growing in order to meet God's requests.

One of the things that has helped me most in dealing with the unexpected stretching of my resources is that I have found that God will also order my upcoming expenses, if I listen to Him.

And that blessing from Him is one thing that I never expected to happen when I first asked Him for a second chance.