Today is World Mission Sunday. The collection helps all the missionary priests, religious sisters, brothers, lay catechists who offer an education in the faith and in academic studies in the most remote areas of the world. They also provide crucial medical care to those who could never afford it and so much more. We as Catholics ought to be very proud and grateful of the great missionary history of the Church down through the centuries. As always whatever you can give with a generous heart to the collection will be greatly appreciated. 

Once again this week I would like to bring to your attention the Offertory Collection. Many of the parishes throughout the Archdioceses are involved in a program called “Beyond Sunday Morning.” The purpose is to make us aware of the importance of giving to your parish. 

It all started with the brothers Cain and Abel. We all know the story. Cain, the firstborn from Adam and Eve, became a “worker of the soil,” a farmer. His younger brother Abel became a shepherd. The brothers offered thanksgiving sacrifices to God, each from his own work. God favored Abel's sacrifice instead of Cain's. Cain became angry and jealous then murdered Abel, whereupon God punished Cain by condemning him to a life of wandering. 

Why did God favor Abel’s sacrifices over Cain? Careful reading of the story tells us that Abel offered God the firstborn, the best to God. It was a real sacrifice for Abel to give the very best to God. Cain on the other hand, gave no thought of his giving; Cain gave leftovers to God. He gave to God because he had to, not from his heart. 

And ever since that moment, people have been offering the fruits of their labor to God. When the Jewish people were forged into a nation, there were many laws concerning their offerings to God and to the Temple treasury. Eventually there came about what is known as a “tithe”, or 10% of everything one had is given to God. 

As the Christian Church and the Eucharist was developing, the preparation of the gifts or offertory assumed great importance in the early church. After the people heard the readings from Scripture, the second part of the Mass began. People would then bring their offerings of food, or animals, or money to the Mass. People would bring the first fruits of their produce to Church and give it to the bishop at the altar. The food was then given to the poor and those in need, after the bishop took what he needed to live. St. Augustine was impressed with the procession of gifts in Rome in which the faithful brought from their own homes things from their kitchen tables. Tithing and almsgiving were considered acts of worship. 

Yet the generosity of the people didn’t last too long! Already in the mid third century, St. Cyprian chided those who came to Mass and received the Eucharist but made no offering of their own: “You are wealthy and rich, and do you think that you celebrate the Lord’s Supper, not at all considering the offering? Who comes to the Lord’s Supper without a sacrifice, and yet take part of the sacrifice, which the poor man has offered? ” 

It is all about attitude! So from the very beginning of humanity there was a sense of giving back to God, as a sign of gratitude for what was given to them, not second best or an afterthought rather a generous giving. Giving to Church is not just a practical thing to do; it needs to be a spiritual act of love. How much thought do you give to your offering to God and His Church? Is it an automatic giving, or do I give my best to God.