At all weekend Masses, January 20 & 21, Ms. Signs spoke to parishioners about her adventure into the practice of tithing.  She said it was twenty years ago this coming May that she first heard a talk on the subject in her Catholic parish.

While raised in a Catholic home that emphasized the need to support the Church, as she listened to the talk she realized that she had merely continued to give the same amount as her parents had given years ago when she was a child.

“Doing the math in her head”, as she listened to the tithing talk, she realized she was way off the mark in the amount she had been giving.  At first, she was frightened about increasing her amount because she was unmarried and felt the total responsibility for providing for her needs both in the near term and in the long-term leading up to retirement.

After wrestling with her dilemma for a while, she finally decided to try tithing for three months.  She told herself that if it didn’t work out at least she would have the satisfaction of knowing she had tried.  At the end of that period, she could see that God had provided for her strained budget and she had lacked no needs being met.  With that realization, a beautiful peace settled over her life.

Pat recommends 5% for the local parish Church, 4% for other outside charities an 1% for the Diocese.

She encouraged all parishioners to try the practice for three months and see for themselves that God is sufficient and will find ways for taking care of us in the midst of our sacrifice.

Many parishioners commented on the sincerity of her message and some noted that they felt moved to try the tithing lifestyle.

Thank you, Ms. Signs for coming to share with St. William Catholic Church.