La Gracier Et La Paix (The Pardon and the Peace) - 1. Story

20th Dec, 2015.

It is almost dinner time. It’s snowing out, like always before the Christmas. A boy is running from work towards the church. The evening prayer is about to end when he entered into the All Saints Church in Black Heath, London. Father Ronaldo is finishing the last words of his prayer. The mass is huge because it is the last Sunday prayer before Christmas Eve. All the mass goers formed a line to get blessed by the priest. Confused by all this, the boy dusted the snow off, sat on the back pew and observed all the things around him.

Sister Barbara Bennett, a junior Church Leader, saw the boy waiting there on the pew. She didn’t know who he is, she had never seen him attending any prayer before. She got curious because the boy was continuously looking at the mass and priest, but never tried to join the queue. He is looking like he was waiting for the queue to end.

Half an hour later all the people are gone from of church. The boy sees Father Ronaldo going out to his chamber through the side gate. He ran to meet him, but the priest has disappeared before the boy can cover the distance Observing all this, Sister Bennett came to boy.

"Hello dear one. I am Sister Barbara Bennett. Do you need something?" Sister Bennett asked him, concerned.

"Oh... Greetings Miss. I am here to see the preacher" The boy said with awe.

"And, you are?" Sister Bennett questioned.

"Oh, forgive my rudeness miss. My name is Phillips, Phillips Norman." Phillips replied.

"Don't worry dear, you are not rude. Just confused." Sister Bennett gave him an assuring smile and continued "Why do you want to meet Father Ronaldo?"

"I am just here to request of him to come to my house and pray for my grandfather." said Phillips with a worried look on his face.

"Oh dear, is he alright?" Sister Bennett asked with a concerned tone.

"He is good miss. He just can't move out of his bed."

"I think Father Ronaldo is too busy with his meetings schedule. Christmas Eve is just four days away."

"Oh… I see." Phillips said with some disappointment.

"But I can introduce you to someone that can do what you want, if you don't mind."

"I'll be glad for it miss," said Phillips with a smile.

"You can call me Barbara, Phillips. Please come with me." Sister Bennett went out of chapel's side gate.

"Ok miss... Barbara!" They went through a long corridor to the back of the church. Sister Bennett took him into a large room, which is looking more like an office than someone's personal room.

"Father Sheahan, are you here?" Sister Bennett called.

"Oh dear, I think he is still at the youth group. Wait here for a bit. I'll send him a message you are waiting here for him."

"OK miss Barbara." Phillips replied and took seat as Sister Bennett suggested.

She went out as the silence filled the room. He looked at the room and its furniture. They look too fine and beautiful, even though the church was built ages before. He waited there for fifteen minutes more doing nothing. He was alerted by the sound of the gate opening.

"Oh you must be the boy Barbara sent for me for." The man seemed to be in his forty’s.

"Yes Sir. My name is Phillips Norman. I am here to request you to pray for my grandfather."

"Yes, she did tell me about your grandfather. My name is Father Vincent Sheahan. They all call me Father Sheahan. You can call me Vincent if you want, my boy."

"Ok Father Vincent."

"I just ordered tea for both of us. It’s too cold out there." Sister Bennett came into the room bringing a tray with her. She pours two cups for both of them and left, wishing Phillips good luck.

"I have been here for almost a year. I have never seen you attending any prayer before." Said Father Sheahan.

"It would be insulting if I answered your question Father Vincent."

"Try me."

"I hate God. He took two precious things out of my life" Phillips said with a sad tone.

"Oh... Why now then?" asked Father.

"It’s because of my grandfather. He is sick and counting his last days."

"And!?" enquired Father Sheahan.

"And he has been acting strange these days. I don't know, he has kinda gone mad or something." Phillips is sobbing now. "He is a Catholic too. Still he believes in God. I can't see him in any more pain."

He is crying openly in front of Father Sheahan now. Father just came to the boy to console him. He hugged the boy from the side, and he started to cry more. The tears finally subsided after ten minutes.

Still hugging the priest the boy said "I just want him to die in peace, not like this. Not with the grief. Will you please come to our home and pray for him."

"I am afraid I can't come now. But I'll make a note to come to your house tomorrow." promised Father Sheahan.

"Thank you Father Vincent. Thank you so much. I will be waiting for you tomorrow at my house." He gave the priest his address, writing carefully.

"Don't worry my dear. God will be with you and bless with you for good life." said Father Sheahan.

They said good byes to each other and Phillips, wearing his hoodie, left the church smiling.

21st Dec, 2015.

"Yes grand pa, he told me he would come today." Phillips shouted from kitchen.

The next morning, Phillips thought the house was too dirty, so he cleaned. He is excited about the priest coming to pray for his grandfather. He even made a fine lunch for the priest. After taking care of all the work, he sat with his grandfather.

They both waited for the priest the entire day, but he never showed up. So Phillips found the phone directory and called the church. He was told Father Sheahan and Sister Barbara were out of town for an emergency meeting with the authorities and are not going to come, it’s about Christmas Eve. Disappointed, he told his grandfather what he had learned.

23rd Dec, 2015.

"Okay grandpa, I am heading for work. Your lunch is ready and put by your bed side. Lucy, the care taker, will come and will feed you. I'll call Father Vincent after dinner." Phillips kissed his grandfather on his fore head and left for work.

Lucy came about lunch time and took care of the old man’s lunch. Father Sheahan came to the address he was given and knocked on the door. Lucy opened the gate and got confused to see Father Sheahan at the door step.

"Hello Father Sheahan. I wonder what you are doing here!" said Lucy with a confused look on her face.

"Hello Lucy dear, is this Mr. Jason Norman's house? I was invited by Phillips Norman here to pray for his grandfather."

"Indeed it is, Father. Come inside. Fortunately you came at the right time. If I had left there would be no one to answer the door," said Lucy with a charming tone. "Give me a minute. I'll tell Mr. Jason you are here."

"Thank you Lucy." Father Sheahan waited for a minute looking at the house. The house is clean and neat. He knows it was Phillips who took care of the cleaning. He found out Phillips is such a brilliant boy he has ever seen, when Phillips told him 'he don't want his grandfather to die with grief'. Lucy welcomed him to senior Norman's room.

"You can go in Father. I am leaving for work. After praying, just lock the door and put the key under the door mat." Lucy said and left.

Father Sheahan entered the room and greeted Jason.

"Hello Mr. Norman. I am sorry I did not come the other day as I promised."

"Hello Father Vincent. It’s okay about you not coming. Phil said you were busy and out of town for some meetings."

"Yes Mr. Norman. It was rather important and I was called at the last minute."

"It’s fine Father. And you can call me Jason."

"Fine Jason. Phillips said you were sick and invited me to pray for you."

"Why are you still standing Father Sheahan? Take a chair and sit near me." Jason requested formally.

There was a chair in front of Norman senior's bed. As Father began to sit., Jason protested.

"Please not that chair Father. Why don't you get another chair from the hall?" Confused by the sudden outburst, Father Sheahan took the chair from the hall and sat near Jason's bed.

"I heard Phillips has gone to work?"

"Yes Father. His work is the only source of income. I have become his burden. For such a young man he is working hard," said Jason with a heavy tone.

"It’s not like that, Jason. He worries about you so much," said Father Sheahan. "What happened to his parents. Jason? He never told me about them."

"It’s me happened, Father Sheahan. It was one Christmas I had come here to spend with them. They were about to leave for a movie and I convinced Phil to stay with me. We spent some time just talking about the issue and I made them both late to leave. Phil stayed as I asked him. Later I got a call from a cop saying they both met with an accident and never made it to the hospital." Jason said remembering that day.

He stopped to get some air. Father Sheahan waited patiently for Jason to complete the story. After five minutes Jason continued.

"I was shocked to hear the news. After that I was paralyzed, and had to be hospitalized for ten days. The doctors never found a cause. Phil lost everything because of my stupidity. I made them leave late. But he never blamed anyone but God. Sometimes he blamed himself but never me."

"Don't blame yourself Jason. It is neither your fault nor Phillips's. It’s just fate. And you saved Phillips from the accident with your quarrel. It’s not your fault Jason. Phillips is brave enough to know it." Father Sheahan said and continued, "He knows that you are blaming yourself. And he wants you to not to live with grief."

" He said that Father?" Jason said it more like a sentence than a question.

"He loves you Jason. He doesn’t want you to die with grief."

Jason heard a mystique voice saying 'He forgives you!'. He was mesmerized by the peace he felt and looked at the chair instead of looking at Father Sheahan. It got Father's attention, so he asked about the chair.

"What is it Jason? Why not that chair, Jason? Is there anything wrong with it?" asked Father Sheahan with some curiosity.

"No Father. It is God's chair."

"God's chair?" asked Father Sheahan with a confused look on his face.

"Yes, Father. When I became paralyzed, I was unable to come to church and pray in front of God. So one of my friends suggested I put this chair here and talk to it as if God is sitting on that chair and listening to me," said Jason with tear filled eyes.

For the first time in his life Father Sheahan had no words. He just stood up and prayed.

"Grant, we beseech thee, merciful Lord,

To thy faithful people pardon and peace,

That they may be cleansed from all their sins,

And serve thee with a quite mind;

Through Jesus Christ our Lord.

Amen."

After praying Father Sheahan left the house, locking it as Lucy said. He felt a solace in his sole when he left from there.

24th Dec, 2015.

It is Christmas Eve today. All the church members were busy with tasks they needed to complete. The decoration was great, and so was the food served for dinner. The evening went fine, with a speech by the preacher, songs by the chorus, and prayer. Midnight was minutes away when a boy came to Father Vincent Sheahan, who was busy talking with the families who attended the service, and told him he had an important call from someone named Phillips. So he went to his room to attend to the call.

"Hello Phillips, advanced Happy Christmas dear boy." Father Sheahan wished with excitement.

"Hello Father Vincent!" said Phillips with a strange voice.

"What has happened, my child? You sound terrible." asked Father Sheahan with a concerned voice.

"It’s... my... grandfather..." he was crying on the phone.

"What happened son? What happened to Jason?"

"He is no more in this world Father. He has gone."

Father Sheahan gulped a lump and asked, "Did he pass peacefully?". He can feel the crying had stopped on the other side if the phone.

"Yes Father. He died so peacefully!" said Phillips and continued, "He never got out of that bed after my parents died. Today, when I came home from the work, I found him sitting at the foot of that chair you have seen in his room. He had put his head on the chair. When I got to him, he was no more."

Silence filled the line for some time. No one spoke, but were just there on the phone thinking deeply. Father Sheahan spoke, breaking the silence.

"I wish we, too, get that kind of holy death as your grandfather!" said Father Sheahan and ended the call.

About five minutes later, the youth group leader Sister Barbara knocked on the door and came in. She was confused as to why Father Sheahan sent for her at a time where he had to be at the chapel.

"Did you send for me Father?"

"Yes, dear one. Would you please submit these papers to the administration for me?" Father handed over some papers and continued. "I won't be here for the ceremony. Will you please inform Father Ronaldo of my absence?"

"Why yes Father Sheahan. But where are you going, if you don't mind to answer?"

"Phillips's grandfather died. I am going to adopt him. The papers you are holding are the ones for that."

A bright smile appeared on Sister Barbara's face, showing she was happy for Phillips.