Finding Your Way: Personal Philanthropy

You have shown great generosity in recent months. We are most grateful. The Annual Catholic Appeal (ACA) exceeded its goal in record time because of your response. The Catholic School Collection reflects your tremendous commitment to the mission of our schools; and the World Missions Collection is going strong. Moreover, so many have strengthened our endowments in the Catholic Foundation. These are all on the diocesan/foundation level. You are also active participants in any number of parish projects. 

It took me years to understand a reality about giving: those who contribute to one program are typically the same ones who give to another — and another and another. Givers are givers are givers. I have done longitudinal studies on giving statistics and I have trusted my intuition. I recently attended the St. Aloysius auction (wonderful!) where I witnessed magnificent generosity expressed by people whose benefaction also touches so many parts of our diocesan community. Givers are givers are givers.

You may be familiar with a seasoned story that has been passed around the campfire for decades. It shows how the rightly developed interiority of a person results in their ability to be a giving presence in life.

Once two brothers inherited their father’s land. The brothers divided the land in half and each one farmed his own section. Over time, the older brother married and had six children, while the younger brother never married.

One night, the younger brother lay awake. “It’s not fair that each of us has half the land to farm,” he thought. “My brother has six children to feed and I have none. He should have more grain than I do.”

So that night the younger brother went to his silo, gathered a large bundle of wheat, and climbed the hill that separated the two farms and over to his brother’s farm. Leaving the wheat in his brother’s silo, the younger brother returned home, feeling pleased with himself.

Earlier that very same night, the older brother was also lying awake. “It’s not fair that each of us has half the land to farm,” he thought. “In my old age my wife and I will have our grown children to take care of us, not to mention grandchildren, while my brother will probably have none. He should at least sell more grain from the fields now so he can provide for himself with dignity in his old age.” So that night, too, he secretly gathered a large bundle of wheat, climbed the hill, left it in his brother’s silo, and returned home, feeling pleased with himself.

The next morning, the younger brother was surprised to see the amount of grain in his barn unchanged. “I must not have taken as much wheat as I thought,” he said, bemused. “Tonight I’ll be sure to take more.”

That very same moment, his older brother was also standing in his barn, musing much the same thoughts.

After night fell, each brother gathered a greater amount of wheat from his barn and in the dark, secretly delivered it to his brother’s barn. The next morning, the brothers were again puzzled and perplexed. “How can I be mistaken?” each one scratched his head. “There’s the same amount of grain here as there was before I cleared the pile for my brother. This is impossible! Tonight I will make no mistake — I will take the pile down to the very floor. That way I’ll be sure the grain gets delivered to my brother.”

The third night, more determined than ever, each brother gathered a large pile of wheat from his barn, loaded it onto a cart, and slowly pulled his haul through the fields and up the hill to his brother’s barn. At the top of the hill, under the shadow of a moon, each brother noticed a figure in the distance. Who could it be?

When the two brothers recognized the form of the other brother and the load he was pulling behind, they realized what had happened. Without a word, they dropped the ropes to their carts and embraced.

In the next edition of Inland Catholic, I will present some types of giving that focus on the future, typically called planned giving. 

As you find your way in the world of personal philanthropy, I invite you to consider to one of our three most recently established endowments. Please make checks payable to the Catholic Foundation and send to Sr. Mary Tracy at PO Box 1484, Spokane WA 99210.

1. John Conley Memorial Endowment. Benefits training for seminarians.
2. Sr. Celine Steinberger, SNJM Memorial Endowment. Benefits Sisters of the Holy Names Retirement.
3. Carol Speltz Memorial Endowment. Provides tuition assistance for students at St. Mary’s School in Spokane Valley.