Priest Installs Camera to Find Out Who Was Stealing the Offering, But He Was Shocked to See

“Frank Jerome was a priest in charge of Saint Thomas Parish. He tried his best to lead his flock and make sure everything was done the right way. But then things began to go wrong. The church’s offering suddenly started going missing, so he had to investigate and find the culprit. What he would discover will shock you.

Frank Jerome was no one’s favorite priest. Ever since he got transferred to Saint Thomas Parish, he could count on one hand how many times he had been invited to visit a parishioner. He was not the kind of priest people loved to flock around, or the kind children ran to so he could lay his hands on their heads for a short prayer.

Everyone treated him with the respect deserving of a priest; however, they kept their distance and never got too familiar. And the reason was not far-fetched: Frank Jerome was not a people person. It was not as if he chased people away from him or did things that kept him away.

It was just the general aura around him. There was something about him that always kept people on their toes when they were with him. It was unexplainable but very real. Being around the priest made many people uncomfortable, so many of the parishioners chose to keep their distance. But still, Frank Jerome managed to run the parish properly. He was frugal in the expenses of the church and made sure everything was in top shape all the time. When he said Mass, he never kept it too long, and that was something the people liked about him. The previous priest always finished Mass late, but with Frank Jerome, it was rare for Mass to last more than two hours.

Everything was going great in the church. The people and priests found a way to coexist. But then something would happen that would threaten to tear the parish apart. One morning, while checking the donations of the previous day, Frank Jerome noticed something disturbing: the offering basket was empty. All of the money that was donated on Sunday was gone. Frank Jerome was distraught.

The money was important for running the affairs of the parish, and its sudden disappearance would take a toll on its finances. Stealing from the church was akin to stealing from God. So, who would dare to do such a thing? The priest kept quiet about the situation. He chose not to tell the elders so they wouldn’t get alarmed, and he didn’t inform the police because he didn’t want the matter to get out of hand or create a bad name for the church. Meanwhile, he made up for the stolen money with his own funds. But over the week, he decided to launch his investigation, seeing if he could identify the thief.

During morning masses on weekdays, Frank Jerome centered his sermon on stealing and taking things from the house of God. While preaching, he tried to study the reactions of his members; perhaps someone would give themselves away with their countenance. But unfortunately, this approach didn’t work. Another Sunday came by, and by Monday morning, the offering was gone again.

When Frank Jerome noticed this, he was at his wit’s end. He still had no clue who the thief was, and he was still reluctant to inform the elders of the church. Instead, he imposed strict measures on the parishioners. Henceforth, the offering would be kept in the safe, and no one except a select few would have access to the safe. In this way, should the money go missing again, he would know who to hold responsible. But that week, the problem wouldn’t be just the missing offering; other strange things would happen as well, and Frank Jerome would have no explanation for them.

Later that week, on Wednesday, Frank Jerome woke up with an injury on his big toe. It looked like he had hit it against something, but that was impossible because the night before, his toe was perfectly fine. So how did it happen? Anyway, he didn’t let the injured toe stop him from carrying out the day’s activities. He prepared to say the morning Mass, but he couldn’t wear his shoes or sandals because of the injury to his toe.

So he made do with his palm slippers. The church members were shocked when they saw their Parish priest in palm slippers. He also looked haggard and unkempt, but they said nothing about it. However, over the next few days, the number of parishioners attending morning Mass dropped drastically.

The next Sunday, Frank Jerome woke up with a severe headache, and his vision was blurry. He felt tired and weighed down. Still, as always, he pushed through it all and prepared for Mass. However, during the Mass, he suddenly started having a strong urge to sleep. It got so bad that while giving communion, he dozed off for a few seconds, and the host fell out of his hands. Thankfully, the altar boy beside him quickly caught it in the communion plate.

This didn’t just happen once; it happened three different times. By now, people were beginning to notice the priest’s strange behaviors, but none of them could confront him. So they decided to tell the elders, who then decided to talk to him after Mass. The last thing the elders wanted was for people to lose faith in their priest.

Just as Frank Jerome was about to dismiss the Mass, something quite terrifying happened: the door suddenly flew open, and a haggard-looking man ran in. His hair was unkempt, and his clothes were dirty. The church wardens ran after him and began to pull him out, but he started screaming, “We’re all going to die! We’re stealing from God! We’re going to die! I have seen this in my dream!” The parishioners were so frightened, and many of them began to whisper terrible things among themselves. “Do we have a thief in the house of God? Who is the thief?” they said, looking around at one another with suspicion.

At that moment, Frank Jerome decided to tell them about the stolen offerings. He took his time, apologizing for not telling them on time and that he was doing all he could to find the thief and put an end to the sacrilege. However, as he spoke, he noticed that the church members were not looking at him; instead, they were looking at the man sitting at the far corner of the church, and they were regarding him with suspicion. This was because the man was an ex-convict; he had been arrested for armed robbery and had only been released recently. Frank Jerome asked them not to judge or suspect anyone yet, and he promised to get to the root of the matter.

After the Mass, the priest had a meeting with the elders, and they suggested that he place cameras in the room where the offering was kept and in the parish shops. That evening, they bought the cameras and installed them, and as usual, by Monday morning, the offering was gone. But Frank Jerome was not worried; he knew the camera would finally show him who the thief was. At night, he connected the camera to his computer and clicked on the video from the previous night. He was glad that he could finally catch the thief, but what he would see would make his blood run cold.

As soon as the video began to play, Frank Jerome couldn’t believe his eyes. He saw himself unlock the safe room, walk in, and pick up the offering. Then he came out of the room and locked it. Seeing all this, he fell back in shock. He was the thief!

He placed his hands over his mouth and tried to suppress a scream. How could he not remember stealing the money? As he continued watching, he saw that he took the money to his room. He searched his closet and then under his bed. And there, the money was right there. Every single offering that had been stolen was under the bed. “My God,” he gasped. “What have I done?” He cried loudly. Although hurt by his own actions, he was quite surprised because he had no memory of stealing the church’s offerings.

“Oh God, please come to my rescue! Save me, Lord! When did I steal from the church?” he wept loudly as he watched the video. Just then, he suddenly remembered something. You see, Frank Jerome was a sleepwalker when he was young. His parents and siblings would often tell him the things he did in his sleep.

Once he had even stepped out of the house, opened the door, and slept in the front yard. However, when he turned 16, the sleepwalking had stopped, so he thought it was gone and never thought about it again. But now he realized that it was back again and that each time he had gotten up from his bed to steal the church’s offering, he had been sleepwalking. This explained why he didn’t remember it. It also explained how he must have injured his toe the other day.

The next day, he went to a doctor who prescribed some drugs to help him sleep better. The following day, Frank Jerome wrote a letter to his bishop asking for leave so he would take care of himself. And the next Sunday, he told the parishioners the truth about the missing money. He apologized for his mistake and promised that he would get treatment. His story touched the hearts of the congregation. It even brought them closer to him as they realized he was also a human with struggles like them. They bid him goodbye and told him to return as soon as his leave was over.

What a beautiful story! What would you have done if you were in Frank Jerome’s shoes?