After twenty-five years in the same parish, Father O'Malley was saying
his
farewells at his retirement dinner. An eminent member of the
congregation -
a leading politician - had been asked to make a presentation and a
short
speech, but was late arriving.
So the priest took it upon himself to fill the time, and stood up to
the
microphone:
"I remember the first confession I heard here twenty-five years ago and
it
worried me as to what sort of place I'd come to... That first
confession
remains the worst I've ever heard. The chap confessed that he'd stolen
a TV
set from a neighbor and lied to the police when questioned,
successfully
blaming it on a local scallywag. He said that he'd stolen money from
his
parents and from his employer; that he'd had affairs with several of
his
friends' wives; that he'd taken hard drugs, and had slept with another
woman and given her a disease.
You can imagine what I thought... However I'm pleased to say that as
the
days passed I soon realized that this sad fellow was a frightful
exception
and that this parish was indeed a wonderful place full of kind and
decent
people..."
At this point the politician arrived and apologized for being late, and
keen to take the stage, he immediately stepped up to the microphone and
pulled his speech from his pocket:
"I'll always remember when Father O'Malley first came to our parish,"
said
the politician, "In fact, I'm pretty certain that I was the first
person in
the parish that he heard in confession....."
his
farewells at his retirement dinner. An eminent member of the
congregation -
a leading politician - had been asked to make a presentation and a
short
speech, but was late arriving.
So the priest took it upon himself to fill the time, and stood up to
the
microphone:
"I remember the first confession I heard here twenty-five years ago and
it
worried me as to what sort of place I'd come to... That first
confession
remains the worst I've ever heard. The chap confessed that he'd stolen
a TV
set from a neighbor and lied to the police when questioned,
successfully
blaming it on a local scallywag. He said that he'd stolen money from
his
parents and from his employer; that he'd had affairs with several of
his
friends' wives; that he'd taken hard drugs, and had slept with another
woman and given her a disease.
You can imagine what I thought... However I'm pleased to say that as
the
days passed I soon realized that this sad fellow was a frightful
exception
and that this parish was indeed a wonderful place full of kind and
decent
people..."
At this point the politician arrived and apologized for being late, and
keen to take the stage, he immediately stepped up to the microphone and
pulled his speech from his pocket:
"I'll always remember when Father O'Malley first came to our parish,"
said
the politician, "In fact, I'm pretty certain that I was the first
person in
the parish that he heard in confession....."
