Father Joseph went up to Father Patrick one afternoon and said,"I am sick of all this clean living. Tonight let's you and me goout and party. We'll carouse, drink, whatever we want."
Patrick was shocked. "Are you crazy? This is a small town and
everyone knows us. Besides, even if they didn't, they would see
our clothes and know we were priests."
Joe was ready for this. "Don't be silly. We won't stay in town,
we'll go into the city where nobody knows us, and we'll dress
just like anyone else."
In the end, he managed to persuade Patrick, and they went out
that night and partied like professionals.
When they got back home at 5:00 AM, Patrick's face became pale."I just thought of something," he said. "We have to confess
this."
Again, Joe was ready. "Relax, I told you I thought this all out
in advance. Tomorrow, you go into church and into the
confessional. I will come in my regular clothes and confess, andyou absolve me. Then I'll go put on my garments, you come in andconfess, and I'll absolve you."
Patrick was amazed at Joe's brilliance.
So Joseph went in later that morning and said, "Father forgive
me, for I have sinned. My friend and I, we're both young men, andlast night we went out and caroused. We became drunk, had carnalknowledge of prostitutes, used foul language, and danced towicked music."
Patrick answered, "God is patient and forgiving, and thus shall I
be. Do five Our Fathers and five Hail Marys, and you will be
absolved of your sin."
A while later, their places were reversed as Patrick came in andconfessed everything in detail. There was a short pause, andJoseph answered,
"I don't believe this. And you dare to call yourself a priest?
You will do 500 Our Fathers, 500 Hail Marys, donate all your
money to the church, and go around the church 500 times on yourknees praying for God's forgiveness. Then come back and we'lldiscuss absolution, but I make no guarantees."
"What? " Father Patrick was shocked. "What about our agreement?"
Joe replied, "Hey, what I do on my time off is one thing, but I
take my job seriously."
