8.

“We are not considering it a miracle.”

Father Lucas cringed when he heard those words.

“Then what do you call what happened yesterday?”

The bishop remained calm.

“We are calling it special effects, and you can be happy we don’t call it demonic possession.”

Father Lucas was becoming angry and frustrated. He wanted to punch the envoy in the face, but was aware that that would be a bad move.

“You can’t brush it off that easily. It was broadcast live, and what about the speaking in tongues part? You know that people understood the message in their mother language, and you can’t fake that on TV our youtube.” And he was right. The segment had been uploaded a hundred times, and was becoming viral throughout the world. Wherever people saw it, they understood the words he spoke with a clarity that was previously unheard of, and in whatever language they

felt more comfortable with.

“You can do great things with today’s technology,” said the bishop. “But we don’t call them miracles.”

“No, you do that with casual happenstances, and simple oddities, like crying statues. But when you finally receive a message, a real message, you’re too scared to act.”

“The church will not condone the killing of an innocent man.”

Father Lucas chuckled. He had always found speaking with his ecclesiastical superiors frustrating, but this was something even worse.

“And you are sure he’s innocent, aren’t you?”

“I’m sure it wasn’t the voice of God I heard.”

“You did a background check on the man? He might be the next Hitler for all we now...”

The bishop reclined into his chair.

“Would you just listen to yourself?” he said. “I know this must be a traumatic experience for you, but you need to put it into perspective.”

Father Lucas buried his face in his hands.

“Listen,” said the bishop. “Your relationship with the church has never been the best, but...”

“HA!” interrupted Father Lucas. “So there you are again, Church Politics. We don’t support because we don’t like you, and you’ve been a naughty boy...”

“But we support you,” continued the bishop, ignoring him. “And we encourage you to keep an open dialog with every side. However, this event is not something that we are publicly going to stand behind. We are watching the situation, and you will have our full support for everything that you need. You just need to stop pretending this is a miracle.”

Father Lucas laid back. He was tired of listening to this man, and tired of behaving in the way the Church wanted him to behave. He had been chosen by God, and he knew now that it had been God who spoke through his mouth the night before. All doubts had been erased. His faith crisis had ended. Now he knew that he was His instrument, His voice. This comforted him, and he repeated the words in his head like a mantra.

He looked once more at the bishop, and he suddenly felt pity. All frustration and hate had been lifted. It became clear to him that his crisis of faith had concerned the Church, not God.

It was the bishop who he didn’t believe in. He started laughing again.