Saturday 12 September 2020

Old Henry's Sin

 



As Father Ignatius arrived at Old Henry’s cottage he recognized the doctor’s car pulling away, so he parked in the vacant space and rang the doorbell.

The seventy-five year old opened the door ashen faced and not having shaved for a few days.

As the priest went into the house he asked tentatively, “That was the doctor leaving … have you not been well Henry?”

The old man sat down and said: “I’ve been in terrible pains since Friday night. Shivering and feeling cold yet sweating and with a temperature. I felt tired and light-headed and thought my time had come!”

“Since Friday night?” asked the priest, “did you call the doctor then?”

“Yes I did. There was no one there. And they don’t work during the weekend either. The doctor finally came on Monday … and he came again today. You just saw him leaving!

“He gave me a variety of pills … all different pretty colours like sweets, and said if I don’t improve he’ll take me to hospital.

“Fat chance! I can’t go to hospital and leave the dog at home alone.”

“But … if this started on Friday night, why did you not call me Henry? I would have come straightaway!” said Father Ignatius.

“Oh … I thought you’d be too busy Father” Henry replied, “I bet you had the church full of sinners at every Mass this weekend. Am I right?” he asked with a glint in his eye.

The priest smiled.

“The thing is …” continued Henry, “at my age I don’t have much opportunity to sin. I don’t think I’ve broken any of the Commandments. I haven’t killed anyone nor stolen anything … and I doubt I have the energy to covet anything my neighbour might have … either his wife, who is ugly and as large as a gorilla, or his donkey … because he hasn’t got one!!!” He chuckled to himself.

“But I’ll tell you something Father …” he continued, “I did despair with God over the last few days … Now that’s a sin I’m sure!

“I was in terrible pain and although I prayed He didn’t listen. Too busy with someone else I suppose … I begged Him many times to take the pain away, but it got worse. At times I did pass out and slept for hours then the pain would wake me again.

“I thought God had abandoned me.

“I still believed in Him you know. I believed in His power to heal and His love for us. I knew He could heal me … but I felt He did not want to.

“Now why would He do that?

“He can heal, yet He withholds His healing power for some … including me. I suppose I lost my Faith in Him.”

“That is not so,” said Father Ignatius gently, “when we are in difficulty, or as in your case, in great pain, we doubt and we question, but we do not lose our Faith.

“Our human nature can’t understand what is happening to us. But deep inside we still believe. The very fact that we pray when in pain, or in despair, shows that we believe there is Someone there listening to our prayers. Such moments of great difficulties strengthen our Faith, not weaken it.

“You said yourself that you still believed in God. So your Faith remained intact.

“But your pain and your fears said otherwise. The trauma of it all overwhelmed you.

“It’s human nature. God knows that.

“When Jesus was on the Cross, His human nature thought He’d been abandoned. But His Godly nature, as part of The Holy Trinity, knew otherwise.

“So have no fears Henry! God loves you and He has already forgiven you.”

The old man smiled feebly.

“Now tell me,” continued the priest, “did the doctor say what you can eat?”

“He said toast and butter would be OK, and tea with lemon, not milk.”

“I can do that … how about a hot meal?”

“He said chicken soup with bread … something light!”

“Mrs Davenport, our housekeeper, makes a great chicken soup with vegetables,” said Father Ignatius, “I’ll ask her to bring you some this afternoon.”

Over the next few days Father Ignatius made sure that a group of people took turns at visiting Old Henry until he was up on his feet and ready to sin again. Small sins of course!

23 comments:

  1. An everyday story with deep insights. The ending "he was up on his feet and ready to sin again. Small sins of course!" got me laughing loud!

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    1. So glad you liked it, Ladka. Great to see you here.

      God bless.

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  2. ...yes, small sins. Are they like small lies?

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  3. Dearest Victor,
    What a great story of ordinary peoples' life and struggles!
    Father Ignatius sure did stop by in time and with some TLC = Tender Love & Care by means of chicken soup and other 'warm' meals, the community really made him feel well and strong again.
    He was so sincere about his most innocent sins...
    Hugs,
    Mariette

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  4. Great story and words of wisdom!

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  5. "Up on his feet and ready to sin again." What a great line, Victor! I did love this story today.
    Blessings!

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    1. Thank you Martha. This story shows how, sometimes, we panic and feel neglected by God when we're not well.

      God bless.

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  6. Sweet! Like Jesus, what a friend we have in Fr. Ignatius!
    Is this a photo of your home?

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    1. No Mevely, this is not my home. It's a village cottage in rural England. They call these cottages "terraced" because they are attached to a neighbour on either side. I had a house like that. The advantage is that it is much warmer in winter because you have the neighbours houses on either side protecting you from the elements. Only the front (like in the photo) and the back are open to the winds and rain.

      God bless.

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  7. Small sins were categorized like white lies, they were not very serious sins. I remember hearing that when I was young. Wonderful story, Victor!

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    1. Venial sins and mortal sins. Luckily, I never ever sin, Bill. I'm such an angel.

      God bless you always.

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  8. I enjoy reading your stories. This story about a tender caring friendship between the Priest and Henry, reflects one of God’s sweetest blessings. If we have such a friend, who uplifts and encourages us; we are truly blessed. Thank you.

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    1. Thank you Nells for your kind words. I'm so pleased you like my stories. I'll post some more here from time to time.

      God bless.

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  9. Oh my goodness, I'm falling in love with Old Henry. If I were closer, I would have made the soup.

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    1. That's very kind of you, Wanda. Soup and toast.

      I hope you and your family are keeping well. Praying for you all.

      God bless.

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  10. Henry sounds like a great guy to sit and chat with.

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    1. Old people can be very interesting to listen to.

      God bless, Kathy.

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  11. Awwww, yes, we are all tempted to the sads when our prayers are not answered right away quite as we wish, but then we remember that He has a plan and purpose and all will be well.

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    1. Indeed Mimi. We need to trust Him more.

      God bless you.

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