19160723 08:56:18

19160723 08:56:18

CF-N-7600

While the rest of the congregation filed out in orderly fashion with the end of the mass at hand, the Humeski family remained seated at their pew; Mary politely smiled and Greg nodded as their neighbors walked past and elicited a salutation. William, to the contrary, remained motionless and unresponsive while waiting for the crowd to exit the church. He rehearsed the lines he was about to say within his mind, and he contemplated the various ways in which the responses from the priest could go. Perhaps his response would be no different than what his dad already told him, that it was best to not challenge the policeman; perhaps he would be reprimanded for not doing more to help the man who was thrown from the second story; perhaps he will be told that he should have consulted another policeman. Perhaps the priest will tell him that the confessional booth is not the proper place to discuss a question of this nature. William didn't know what to expect, and this uncertainty was reflected in the nervousness which he felt reverberate throughout his body. The tension boiled ever stronger within him as he felt the seconds pass by like minutes in anticipation of his chance to speak. After the third time in doing so, he turned to his side to look over at the light above the doorway and now saw it alight. It was time. William looked over to his father, and, with a nod of acknowledgement from him, stood up to walk over to the door. He entered into the darkened chamber and knelt upon the padded board.
"Слава Отцю, і Сину, і Святому Духу." William hoped that stating this much in native speech would give respect to the father and set a proper tone for the discussion.
"Амінь."
He wasn't able to discern who it was that responded from the single word alone, but he quickly refocused on his intended purpose and didn't contemplate that question further.
"Father. I'm not here to make a confession. In truth, I wanted to ask for your answer to a question I have. Is that OK?"
"Так, продовжуйте." He stated this without a delay. William felt a bit relieved by this much alone.
"I saw something happen recently, and I am very troubled by it. I heard a crash of glass, and turned to see a man fall through a window - from the second floor window - and land on the street below. While he laid there, another man came out from the building and started to beat and injure him further. All while this was happening, there was a policeman behind me who watched the whole thing. He then spoke to the man who was punching the man on the ground, and they said a bit to each other and then walked away. Meanwhile, the man who fell through the window was left there on the street."
"What did you do then?"
"I, well, I went over to the man there and I asked him if I could help. And he didn't say anything. He just kept groaning and wheezing out. And I reached a hand out to him to try to help him at least sit upright, and I told him he could take my hand, and then the policeman actually yelled at me. He... he told me to just, leave him alone. That he'd be OK and that I should leave him alone. And, well, I mean, he was a policeman. A policeman told me to do that. So, I felt like I had to do what he said. I didn't want to get in trouble or anything. So I didn't know what else I could do, so I walked away and left him lying there in the street. Did I do the right thing, father? Is it OK that I did that?"
"Hm." The priest hummed the syllable a few times, letting the noise hang in the otherwise silent air in the chamber. "Hm, that is a difficult situation, yes." The priest continued to contemplate an answer. William began to feel increasingly nervous again as he waited for this answer to finally be stated. After considering the question for nearly a full minute, the priest responded.
"Listen - there are two main issues to consider here.  First. The will of the Father is bestowed upon all of us, and there is nothing which happens without His reason. Perhaps this man who fell truly was someone who had committed a terrible sin of some kind, and this kind of retaliation - not to say that it should be condoned, mind you - but this kind of retaliation was a natural result of that kind of sin. It is a possibility that this policeman recognized that victim as such a sinner and felt no need to provide aid to someone so wicked. Now, allow me to ask; when you reached out to this man, did he instantly grasp your hand in response?"
"N, no. No he didn't."
"Right. He remained on the ground instead. It is possible that the man himself recognized that his wickedness has earned him his injury, and he ultimately felt that he deserved to suffer at that moment. Sometimes, you will see such men who are offered aid and refuse it, and the reason that they do so is because they acknowledge or believe that they do not deserve it. Sometimes this is justifiably so. Now, allow me another question for the second point. Was this man visibly on the verge of death when you spoke to him? Was he bleeding profusely? Was he crying out in agonizing pain?"
"No, he was not like that, no. He remained mostly still."
"Right. His life was not in immediate danger, and you saw as such. So this is my second point, and my way of saying that you did the right thing there. Had this man been on the brink of death, and all else equal, then no, you would not be justified in walking away from that dying man. In such a case, and you will know it to be so when you feel it within your heart, it would be your Christian duty to help such a man live, despite what anyone else says. If that kind of situation should ever befall you, you will need to remember that there may be a time such as this where you will need to defy immediate authority. Do not at all take this decision lightly, though. You must understand that you do not get to arbitrarily choose which laws to follow. You must understand that these kind of decisions will have consequences. Do you understand?"
"Um. I. Y, yes. Yes, I understand.
"Good. I am glad that you have asked this of me. I understand that this would have weighed heavily upon you. You have done the right thing. Іди з миром."
"Um, thank you, father." William promptly stood up and exited from the room.
Upon seeing him exit, his parents stood up at their pew and waited for him to return to them before they left the church. They remained silent until they walked through the outer doors and winced as they entered the sunlight.
"So, did you get your answer?"
"Um, yeah, I did, dad, yeah. I did."
"Well, good then." The conversation came to an abrupt end and they continued to walk in a perplexed silence. Both parents perceived that William wasn't fully satisfied with what had just happened. Despite being told by his father and the priest to the contrary, William still didn't understand how what he had witnessed and how he responded to it as ultimately being acceptable. Something still felt wrong about it within him.