Desire and Denial by Thomas Gordon;

Author:Thomas, Gordon; [Thomas, Gordon]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 1805153
Publisher: Open Road Integrated Media, Inc.
Published: 2011-08-15T00:00:00+00:00

There were further sessions, more intricate questions, and now this meeting. Andrew’s mother turned toward the door as Father Patrick walked in, holding a coffeepot.

“Make yourselves comfortable. We’ve lots to talk about.”

Carefully putting down the pot, he went to the desk and raised its roll-top. It was stuffed with papers. The old priest started to riffle through them, calling over his shoulder:

“Be patient! Drink your coffee! I have news.”

He finally turned, two pieces of paper in his hand, waving them dramatically at Andrew and his mother.

“My Lord Bishop has written. And His Eminence.”

He pulled down the rolltop and walked stiff-legged from the desk, reading to himself. He stopped before the couch and tapped the letters almost with reverence.

The Bishop and the Cardinal had written to say that Andrew had secured a place at the Gregorian University in Rome, one: of the most prestigious in the Catholic world.

“Is it settled, then?” His mother wanted to be quite certain. “Nothing can go wrong?”

“Nothing at all, from this end.”

“There’ll be no problems.” She spoke quietly. “My husband, deep down, is quite pleased that Andrew has finally made up his mind on a career.”

“I’m glad.” The priest smiled at her, his eyes fixed on Andrew, watching his every reaction. Then: “I still have a few questions of my own.”

Some invisible fist buried itself in Andrew’s stomach; the unexpected always produced this feeling.

“Yes, Father.”

Father Patrick scanned one of the letters.

“My Lord Bishop is still concerned about the validity of your experience in the bar, my boy. His Grace feels, and I must agree with him, that no one who is totally honest with himself can ever pinpoint the exact moment he experiences the call to God. No one is given a vocation in a moment. I think you should see what happened as the final extension of a growing awareness of what you want to do.”

Andrew’s mother interjected: “I think Father’s right, dear.”

“Maybe, but that was the moment I really felt I needed to serve Him.” Andrew plunged on. “I’m quite sure that what I felt I wrote down. It was a very clear feeling. God called me.”

Father Patrick raised a hand dramatically.

“But, my boy, you’ve clearly been thinking of this all your life. It isn’t something sudden. It’s been there all the time.” His eyes stared unblinkingly.

“Creation in a sense is vocation’s first moment. God leads us into the world. He chooses our path in life. If you see it like this, what happened in the bar can take on a proper perspective.”

“I understand what you’re saying, but I can’t find a logical way to fit it into my experience.”

Father Patrick’s voice quickened. “I don’t think it serves any useful purpose to say your whole life from now on is going to be based on some blinding revelation in a pub.”

“Why not, Father? It’s what I think did happen.”

The priest sighed. “In recommending you, His Grace, and I suspect His Eminence would concur, would like to think that there is a more solid foundation to your vocation.

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