Tithes and Relatives
Question:
Can I give from the tithes to my relatives according to the flesh?
Answer:
The tithes that are given to the house of the Lord and to the poor should not be mixed with your official responsibilities that you are obliged to fulfill toward your relatives according to the flesh. Otherwise, if you spend your tithes in this area, nothing will remain for you to offer to the poor and to the Church.
Therefore, you may give to these poor relatives, for the Scripture says: “If anyone does not provide for his own, and especially for those of his household, he has denied the faith and is worse than an unbeliever” (1 Timothy 5:8).
Thus, we do not neglect our family, but we give to them—not all that belongs to the Lord—because the Church has a share in this money, and the poor have a share. And we cannot wrong them because of our relatives…
For if we were to do this, then the bond of blood would be what draws us, not the divine commandment, nor compassion and love toward all…
An article by His Holiness Pope Shenouda III – in El-Keraza Magazine – Year Eight (Issue Forty-Three) 27-10-1977
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