19 Maybe his heart need care more than others?
“What?” Adam was convinced, that this is some kind of joke made by Hubert. “You are hiring me? At a construction site?”
“You think you'll sleep in my bed, eat out of my bowl and drink out of my cup pretty much for free? Even Goldilocks had to do her homework in the field.”
“You're demanding payment from someone you invited to be your guest?”
“What if I did? Is the honorable lawyer afraid to get his hands dirty? Is the construction work too hard? Or maybe the honorable gentleman doesn't want to come down from his pedestal and hang out with the commoners, because if I remember correctly, he did hang out quite enthusiastically one night.”
Adam might feel offended. He might even fly into a rage. In fact, he could have even quoted the relevant article of the Penal Code, the Civil Code and the Labor Code, only that the whole situation evoked in him a completely different reaction - he laughed.
“I don't give in to provocation, to be clear” he explained “but I have nothing better to do anyway, so why not? Let me just warn you that I have never worked in construction.”
“In that case, the counselor will learn a new skill today. He's going to learn how to hammer nails. I guarantee it will come in handy someday in life to hang some certificate or diploma.”
“Nowadays, they use adhesive materials, not nails.”
“And that remains to be seen. You are still young, Counselor, and life is not limited to elegant offices and courtrooms. Sometimes it is necessary to go out among the people, to the common people, to the plebs and get to know the life of an average eater of bread. Only in this way will a lawyer gain the experience to defend each client.”
This intentionally pompous speech made Adam unable to stop smiling. He relaxed enough to forget the unpleasant feelings that began to return to him caused by the momentary association.
***
Bishop Wacław Przytulski turned away from the window and turned to his secretary with a gentle, fatherly smile:
“I see that Father Piotr Lechoń has just arrived. Ask him at once, because I still have a sermon to prepare after this meeting.”
Father Barttłomiej bowed and went out to bring the guest expected by the bishop. He knew that this was one of the favorites of his eminence, who, in the private opinion of his secretary, was a little too controversial, but precisely for that reason so liked and appreciated by the bishop.
Father Piotr himself probably did not realize how privileged he was. Bishop Wacław always found time for him in his busy schedule, even if he had to cut short an important meeting or skip a meal. The young curate did not even have to make an appointment, it was enough for him to call and ask if he could see the bishop today. Sometimes he even came unannounced and only had to wait until his Eminence finished what he was doing, although sometimes he did not have to wait at all
That day, however, Father Piotr arrived at the summons of his superior. Not at the summons, Bartłomiej corrected himself, at the invitation. And this was a tad more irritating to the secretary, for he was wholeheartedly against showing favoritism.
However, it was not easy to avoid it. A priest, too, is only human and has people he likes better and those he likes less. Bishop Wacław tried to treat everyone the same, he had only one exception - the young priest Piotr Lechoń, whose mentor he had been in the seminary.
The secretary did not know what exactly had won so much kindness of his eminence, although he was very curious. Personally, he did not see anything special in this priest, barely in his thirties, who stood out only by the fact that he did not care about ensuring the proper authority of the dignity he held and the youth treated him more like an older brother than a priest.
Bartłomiej wanted to know why this particular student had won the bishop's special affection, not out of jealousy but out of simple curiosity. At least that is how he explained it to himself. In reality he knew that his motives were not so pure. After all, he was only a man who likes some more and others less and in this case he simply did not like Piotr Lechoń.
Usually the young curate smiled wryly, as if forgetting the solemnity of the function he represented, but this time he was calmer, more subdued and as if lacking his energy. He greeted politely, but lacked the usual cheerfulness.
This made Bartłomiej even more curious. He would have loved to eavesdrop on the conversation between the two, but he knew that the door and the walls were a bit too thick, but if the window was open...
He let his guest in and was already heading for the next room hoping to get some information when his sister came running in asking for help with a brawling ward of the charity organization. There was no choice but to leave leaving the mystery unsolved...
***
“I have summoned you for very personal reasons," Bishop Wacław said as they made their greeting. “Forgive me for asking about private matters, but I cannot bear to be curious: how is your cousin?”
Piotr sighed.
“I have the impression that he is constantly walking on the edge. One careless word, an ill-considered gesture from someone around him and he will go down.”
“It's a terrible state “Wacław shook his head. “If you want, I can get him an appointment with a good psychologist.”
“No, no” Piotr quickly resisted. “I appreciate the offer, but it will not be good for him. I think...”
“Yes?”
Piotr was clearly uncertain, as if he was struggling with some inner conflict, he, always determined, because it was always most important for him to save a man. If he looked and acted like this, it meant only one thing:
“Could there be a drug found? A drug related to his orientation?”
The young priest only nodded.
“I understand," sighed the bishop, then went to the window and looked out into the distance. “Homosexuality has been a loud problem lately. Although not a problem, an issue. It has always existed, but has almost always been swept under the carpet, so to speak. So far, no good solution to this... issue has yet been invented. The greatest right and duty of man is love. It is Christ who taught it to us the most, and St. Paul said it most beautifully. Love, however, should be fruitful, natural, giving fullness between two such different beings as man and woman and serve, well, procreation. But what to do with people who have been created or shaped so that the opposite sex does not inspire love in them? That really is the problem. It is one thing to be ruled, a purely animal desire that should be condemned regardless of orientation, but it is another thing to love, true and sincere love, that is man's greatest calling. How can we deny the right to it... to anyone?”
“I still remember today what your Eminence said ten years ago. That the most important thing is life.”
“Yes," he nodded, "God gave it to us. God made us this way or led our way to shape us this way. Good or bad, everything we encounter has a purpose. Everyone we meet has a purpose. How can we deny someone their right to love and happiness, just because they see the world differently than we do?”
Piotr smiled, which did not escape Bishop Wacław's attention.
“I'm glad I made you laugh.
“What, no, it's not like that! It's just... Adam would have said the same thing. That's why he's suffering now” Piotr Lechoń got serious.
“If this horrible man, about whom there was so much talk on TV, went to confession and expressed his sincere regret, would you have the right to refuse him absolution? No, don't answer, it's not an exam. Human beings are flawed and sinful creatures. Too many have known them through history, including that of the Church. Their sins are terrible in the eyes of man and God and that is what the law is for, to judge their earthly deeds but none of us know their souls to understand what suffering and what evil has gained power over them to drown out the natural good in them.”
“Adam...he looks into their hearts and souls. He sees their suffering and understands their motives.”
“He is gifted with exceptional empathy. It's a very rare talent. Seeing the good in anyone is not easy. In the old days, such people became saints and martyrs.”
“I think my cousin is far from being a saint.”
“Who knows? Human judgment is not always accurate. Maybe his empathy and sensitivity make his heart need care more than others? Maybe that's why he craves the strength of a man, to be his support?”