Chapter 2

March (date)
St (name)

The fax machine rang and purred into life in the rectory at St. (name). Margoline Alvaro, the church secretary, pushed her glasses up on her nose and glanced at it, then back to her paperwork. It could be a bill or a reservation for the church for somebody’s wedding, but at the moment she didn’t care. She had to make the numbers add up. Somehow the kids in the Youth Group were using more than their fair share of napkins and paper plates at their meetings and she couldn’t figure out why. It wasn’t that it was such a big deal, Heaven only knows, but the Charismatics had complained, and so had the Knights of Columbus, and the Legion of Mary had got in on the fray. Now she had to read through the inventory and see who was using what and how much. It was all a bother, to say the least.

Father Cesar Castro opened the door and came into the office. He had been outside gardening in the chill spring air. The rectory’s dahlia garden was his joy, and had been since he had become pastor. He pulled off his garden gloves, which were remarkably clean, and set them on the chair by the door.

“Good morning, Pader,” she said. “Mabuhay! How are the flowers?”

“Still sleeping, Margoline, but they’ll be beautiful in July. How is the inventory?”

“Very good, Pader. Very good. I will find out what’s happening to all those paper plates.”

“I know you will,” he said, reaching for the fax tray.

“It’s just not right,” she said. “Those kids are so careless…”

But he wasn’t listening, rather reading the fax. He shook his head and handed it to Margoline.

She read it and her eyes widened. “What is this? Is it real?”

“I don’t believe we should give credence to these random faxes,” he said. “They might not be approved by the Holy Father.”

“No, Pader.”

“But it doesn’t hurt to pray.”

“Yes, Pader.”

Margoline closed her eyes for a few seconds and said a Hail Mary. “Amen.”

“Amen,” he said back to her, as he left the room.