ABOLITION OF FIXED DONATION ON SACRAMENTS

How much is baptism? How much are we going to pay for church marriage rites? If you are going to stay at the parish office, you would be hearing these questions asked by parishioners. If you would conduct survey on why people are living together without sacramental blessing, one of the reasons is money. Many people think that sacraments have an equivalent amount of price. It is as if sacraments are for sale. This is a reality we cannot hide. As a result, many poor families have thought that they could not afford it.

Church and Fixed Donation

The church has been dependent on the fixed donation for the sacraments. It is true that such way has been a security for the church. It has supported the church financially. From it, the church sustains the stipends of the priests, parish or diocesean ministries and the sustenance of the convent. However, I propose to you today the idea of the eradication of fixed donation.

Instead of putting a fixed amount on the sacraments, the church should accept anything that the parishioners could voluntarily give. If a person could not give anything, then so be it. He or she can still receive the sacrament. Sacraments have no corresponding monetary values. All people should receive them as Jesus instructed His disciples.

Work of Jesus

Fixed donation is just a coating of the reality that we have neglected for centuries. The truth remains that donation is never a force thing to do. If the Church really wants to serve, then no amount should be asked before service. Sacraments are blessings from God. Jesus had given the Church the duty of administering it. He did not tell the Church to collect first before administering. When Jesus was performing miracles, did he ever ask for something in return? He did not. We cannot find anything in the Bible that speaks of collecting fees first before receiving God’s blessings.

Generosity over Poverty

Some of us may already be thinking that it will make the church finically amputated. With the abolition of fixed donation system, the church will not get poor. It is true that the Church has been dependent on it, but without it, the church would survive.

Today, I believe there are many people who are generous enough to the Church. Many have been pampering their priests. They give them electronic gadgets, trips, dogs and other material things. People are generous enough that the Church would survive. With proper guidance and instructions, the Church can sustain its financial responsibilities through the generosity of the parishioners. Giving to the Church must become a regular habit, with or without the sacraments.

JESUS’ DEATH NOT CHEAP AND FREE

The abolition of fixed donation is an adventure of a new Church and a deviation from the old system of Church sustenance. This should remove from the mindset of the parishioners and the faithful that the sacraments have a monetary equivalent; however neither must it be replaced by another mindset that the sacraments are cheap and require nothing on our part. The sacraments are not free. They have been paid by the precious passion, death and resurrection of the Lord. God has given it to us. People should receive it. The Church has responsibility to provide it.

Eradication of fixed donation is putting our needs into the hands of God. Whenever we work hard for the ministry of the Church, whenever we orient people on the need for generosity, whenever people know their responsibility on the Church, then we can always be assured that the financial needs of the Church will always have solution. With God, nothing is impossible. “I can do everything through Him who gives me strength.” Philippinans 4:13