Chapter 15

Now What?

It had been a few days since Thomas’s talk with Brother John. He wasn’t exactly sure how to proceed, what the rules were as it pertained to his position at the parish or what to do next. He noticed that his name had been removed from any scheduled events and while he was thankful for the reprieve, he knew that he would not be allowed to live here indefinitely. He wasn’t even sure if he would be allowed to live here for the remainder of the week. He had largely been keeping to himself, only leaving his room during odd hours to scrounge up some food from the communal kitchen when he knew he would be alone, but he also knew that he needed to have a follow up discussion with the parish higher ups about his options.

He had assumed that altering his daily schedule would feel foreign and just plain wrong, but Thomas found that this wasn’t the case. A typical day started with morning prayers thanking God for the ability to serve him yet another day followed by a plain breakfast with his brothers, largely in silence, before they all parted ways to attend to their various duties for that day. Having nothing on his agenda for a few days was delightful but it was also heavily punctuated with the knowledge that he needed to move on and wasn’t exactly sure how to go about it.

It dawned on Thomas that it had almost been a gift from God that Brother Evan had recently arrived in town. He was on a temporary, yet open ended loan from a parish in Scotland where he had been a practicing Friar for many, many years. Thomas had found out that Evan apparently always yearned to visit America and had requested a transfer to Thomas’ parish, having relatives that had moved to the States some years ago and settled not far from their little town. Evan’s name had replaced Thomas’ on the schedule and Thomas had realized that Evan was subbing in for him at a funeral that very morning.

He couldn’t help but feel guilty for missing the funeral. When he reflected on it, he knew in his heart that few people were given the opportunity to usher a newly departed soul into God’s realm. Not that he was the gatekeeper for the after world, but some could argue that he existed on a higher spiritual plane than the average person. He gave up his life for God. He was a professional, a religious professional and presiding over the funeral, reciting the final “official” words that the deceased family would ever hear should have felt like an honor and privilege, not a burden.