Father Keith O'Malley was a portly priest with a loud voice and an even louder laugh. He wasn't much past the age of fifty, yet he could easily pass for forty. Always with a broad smile on his face, Father O'Malley never seemed to take anything too seriously, not even God. He suspected God must have a sense of humor as well. Otherwise, why would He let us live here on earth with all our problems and frustrations? Father Keith was faithfully optimistic, or perhaps, optimistically faithful. No matter how bad things could be here in this life, he knew there would always be heaven in the afterlife. That was something he felt we should all bear in mind, especially during the tough times.

When a screaming toddler would interrupt the homily, Father Keith would often joke about it by addressing the youth in the crowd directly – "That's right! You heard me. At least someone is listening." Or – "I was that screaming kid myself not so long ago. I understand what it's like."

One Sunday, Father was uncharacteristically somber and profound as he spoke to the parishioners sitting shoulder to shoulder in the pews. He was a master orator. He would drag a sentence out slowly and pause at the right time with a long silence drawing the attention of an otherwise distant crowd still feeling the effects of Sunday morning oversleep or maybe even, God forbid, a hangover from a late Saturday night.

Meanwhile, everyone in town and the whole state, for that matter, was bracing themselves for the dreaded onslaught of a late-summer hurricane. Many had prepared themselves like diligent scouts - batteries bought, gas tanks filled, patio furniture stored away, cash on hand, and water stored for those who relied on well water. Faithful souls who wanted to avoid going to and from Mass amid the throes of a torrential storm packed the early Sunday morning Mass ahead of the impending weather.

Father O'Malley was in the middle of his homily. The crowd was silent, no coughing, no whispering, not even a baby crying as he quoted scripture –

At the mountain of God, Horeb, Elijah came to a cave where he took shelter. Then the LORD said to him, "Go outside and stand on the mountain before the LORD; the LORD will be passing by." A strong and heavy wind was rending the mountains and crushing rocks before the LORD — but the LORD was not in the wind. After the wind there was an earthquake — but the LORD was not in the earthquake. After the earthquake there was fire — but the LORD was not in the fire.

Father O'Malley paused long and quietly before concluding from the book of Kings...

After the fire there was a tiny whispering sound.

BZZZZZZ!!! BZZZZZZ!!! BZZZZZZ!!!

Every cell phone in church went off.

"It's another warning message for the hurricane, Father. It can't be silenced," said the deacon.

"That scared the HELL out of me!" laughed Father.

"Maybe that's the message."

Story Copyright © 2021 by Michael DeFrancesco

Cover Illustration by Dominic DeFrancesco