The following comes from an August 25 Contra Costa Times article by Rowena Coetsee and Nate Gartrell:

OAKLEY — Parishioners at St. Anthony Catholic Church here briefly found themselves at a loss in more ways than one after one or more thieves made off with the church’s tabernacle, the sacred receptacle used to carry the Blessed Sacrament.

While the heavy, brass box with gold plating is worth around $9,000, the spiritual significance of the loss was much greater, said the Rev. Ken Sales, the church’s parochial administrator. It contained four items: the ciborium, a bowl filled with consecrated Communion hosts; a lunette, a big round host; a pyx, a container for hosts; and a corporal, a linen cloth used for Communion.
“It made it a grave matter because Jesus Himself was taken away,” he said.

But the blow to parishioners’ spirits was transformed into a message of hope over the weekend, after the tabernacle was returned undamaged.

“Yes, the story started negative because of the vandalism, but whatever we lost, we got everything back, including Jesus,” Sales said. “Our community is really grateful, and we are continuing to pray for the person who did it.”

Some congregants in Oakley were setting up for an early morning Mass on Wednesday when they discovered that the case containing sacred wafers that were intended for use during Communion was missing. The wafers in the tabernacle already had been consecrated, an act that Catholics believe transforms them into the literal body of Christ.

But the loss was short-lived: Someone returned the tabernacle and its contents to an undisclosed location and the church was called to come get it on Friday, according to Sales. No arrests have been made in the case, but police are putting together suspect information, an Oakley detective said.