For where your treasure is, there also will your heart be. (Lk 12:34)
Treasure is every thing that God has given us; it is not just the money that he provides. It is the food, the shelter, the clothing, and everything else, including boats, motorcycles, and RVs. God gives them all to us as a gift. In our society when we’ve become “self-sufficient,” meaning that we’re more than self-sufficient, we can start thinking, “I’m providing for myself. I’m making that money happen. I’m earning the salary. I’m paying the bills. I bought all this stuff.”
What do we mean when we say, ‘God gave it to you?’ Well, God gives us every breath. He makes everything happen to enable us to have our job, our health, and the ability to keep the job we have. God created the economy and he blesses us. As we grow in the value of trust, we can also recognize God’s provision in our difficulties. He allows the bad things that happen to us to help us learn to rely on him more. While the mystery of suffering and death is still a mystery, we can trust that God knows and does what is best for us in our circumstances. As Paul said in Philippians during one of his times of great trial and suffering,
“Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, rejoice! Let your gentle spirit be known to all people. The Lord is near. Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and pleading with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all [f]comprehension, will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus.”
When we look at treasure as a gift of all the things that God has given us, we recognize that what he gives us is not our own, it belongs to God.
When we give 10% back, that is tithing. While this Old Testament practice is no longer required; the Church allows each individual to prayerfully decide how much they can give, it is a good practice if you can do it. In the Old Testament, the tithe was given to the Levites who were the priests of the Israelites. They in turn tithed on the gifts they received and provide to the poor. There is thousands of years of history to giving to the Church.
In the third section of the Catechism of the Catholic Church in the “The Ten Commandments,” the seventh commandment, “thou shall not steal,” is all about stewardship and you might be surprised at what the Catechism has to say about private property and about having an obligation to share it.
2403 The right to private property, acquired by work or received from others by inheritance or gift, does not do away with the original gift of the earth to the whole of mankind. the universal destination of goods remains primordial, even if the promotion of the common good requires respect for the right to private property and its exercise.
2404 "In his use of things man should regard the external goods he legitimately owns not merely as exclusive to himself but common to others also, in the sense that they can benefit others as well as himself."187 The ownership of any property makes its holder a steward of Providence, with the task of making it fruitful and communicating its benefits to others, first of all his family.
2405 Goods of production - material or immaterial - such as land, factories, practical or artistic skills, oblige their possessors to employ them in ways that will benefit the greatest number. Those who hold goods for use and consumption should use them with moderation, reserving the better part for guests, for the sick and the poor. (CCC)
None of these things should be seen as restrictions but as an opportunity to grow in the truth and love of our Lord. As we grow in our realization that we are, first and foremost, children of our Heavenly Father who can trust him to provide everything we need, we grow in gratitude and love of God and neighbor. We begin to see that we don’t HAVE to give, but we WANT to give because God has been so generous in his giving to us. We go from giving to a need to “needing” to give because we overflow with the joy and love of the Father.
That is the beauty and blessing of stewardship as a way of life. We begin to realize that stewardship isn’t something we do on top of being a Catholic Christian, it is part of being a Catholic Christian. We are called to be good stewards of all of our gifts, including our treasure.