Keep the Basket away from the Casket not only poses a challenge to the acquisition and use of money in the Church, but it also offers a solution with God’s preference of mercy over sacrifice (Hos 6:6). In so doing, Fr. Nkardzedze provides practical lessons that teach the Church to pray when raising money, rather than to raise money when praying. He presents charity as the antidote to the love of money that forms the root of all evil. These seven indictments against the collection of Mass offerings in church provide a theology of money with radical solutions that call for the courage to reject ill-timed alms, donations, collections, and contributions. The Church’s mission, after all, is not to save money, but souls. If we administer the sacraments properly to the people, that is, place the food of salvation within their reach and fulfill our spiritual obligation, Fr. Nkardzedze demonstrates, God will provide for our material needs without our having to leverage the sacraments to obtain them.
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Fr. Eugen Nkardzedze is a priest from the Diocese of Kumbo serving as fidei donum in the Diocese of Beaumont, Texas. He received a PhD in systematic theology from the Catholic University of America, Washington, D.C. He recently published the very high selling
Henry Onwusoro Ogbuji is a priest of the Catholic Archdiocese of Owerri, Nigeria. Ordained in 2003, he has served his diocese in various pastoral and administrative capacities as associate pastor, pastor and associate Diocesan Finance Administrator. One of the major pastoral challenges he has had as a pastor involved ministering to victims of domestic violence. Hence, it became an area of interest for him during his graduate studies in the US. He obtained a Master’s degree in Theology at Boston College (2017) and a doctorate in Transformational Leadership from Boston University (2022). Upon graduation from Boston University, the author returned to his home diocese in Nigeria and has since been engaged in pastoral ministry. Writing is poignant aperture to share his uniquely striking ministerial and academic experiences with a wider audience.
Dominic O. Ibok was born in Lagos, Nigeria, and educated at Immaculate Conception High School Seminary, St. Joseph Major Seminary, and the Pontifical Urban University before completing his ordination studies at Kenrick School of Theology and his D.Min. studies at Aquinas Institute of Theology, both located in St. Louis, MO. He currently serves in the Roman Catholic Diocese of Springfield-Cape Girardeau in southeastern Missouri as the pastor of both Immaculate Conception Parish in New Madrid and Sacred Heart Parish in Caruthersville and is a chaplain in the Missouri Army National Guard. 
Fr. Dominic Ugoo Anaeto is a priest of the Catholic Diocese of Nnewi in Nigeria. He holds a License in Spirituality from Gregorian University in Rome, a Doctorate in Pastoral Theology from the Lateran University also in Rome, and a diploma from the Christian Institute for the Study of Human Sexuality at the Catholic Theological Union in Chicago, Illinois. He is a certified counselor on topics related to Human Development and Human Sexuality. He has served as the Director of the Master of Arts in Pastoral Studies program at Holy Apostles College & Seminary in Cromwell, CT, and as Director of Pastoral Formation at St. Mary’s Seminary in Houston, TX.
