SO WHAT'S WRONG WITH BUYING A RAFFLE TICKET?

You know the feeling. Rushing into the supermarket, Christmas is round the corner, gotta grab the groceries - and your way through the door is morally if not literally blocked by a table, signs and smiling do-gooders, selling raffle tickets.

Catholics do raffles. Big-time. When 'im indoors suggested to our P P that at his 80th birthday bash we run a raffle, P P said, "Oh no, not a raffle! Catholics always do raffles".

And guess what, we did run a raffle and far more than recouped the expense of dinner for 180 guests.

But. Non-Catholics of the committed Protestant variety aren't so 'sold'. In fact, raffles fly in the face of their earnestly held, Bible-led convictions. So in the interests of ecumenism (and selling many raffle tickets), let me explain the Catholic point of view on raffles.

We share the Protestant principles on gambling, absolutely. Protestants may quote bible verses (Proverbs 28:20; Proverbs 28:22; 1 Timothy 6:9-10) to support their opposition to raffling, but when one examines said verses, one finds they are opposed not to raffles but to gambling. 

Raffling a Christmas cake or a hamper or meat voucher (just as a random example) is not gambling. Raffling isn't gambling. Gambling is motivated by a desire for gain, in other words it's greed, which is always sinful. 

But. A Christian of whatever colour must not judge someone who buys a raffle ticket as being greedy. A Christian must assume, in charity, that the buyer is morally motivated, as for example by a desire to give their family a Christmas gift they may otherwise well not receive. For people on a very tight budget, a $2 ticket on a cake buys them a little bit of hope, that they might win it.

Here’s what the Catechism of the Catholic Church has to say about gambling, which comes under the Seventh Commandment (Thou Shalt Not Steal): 'Games of chance (card games etc) or wagers are not in themselves contrary to justice. They become morally unacceptable when they deprive someone of what is necessary to provide for his needs and those of others.' 

When you balance the certainty of need for money of a worthwhile charity (Voice for Life Central Hawke's Bay, as just another random example) against the possibility that someone’s gambling habit might be indulged, or that they might be deprived of what is necessary to provide for his needs or others', by spending $2 on a raffle ticket, the latter can hardly be called morally unacceptable.

So relax. Get some change at the check-out and spend that $2 (or $5 or more if you're flush) on Christmas raffles - for a good cause, like Voice for Life CHB as yet another random example - with a clear conscience.