I Am the Messenger Part 2 / Chapter 7 Summary

the priest

  • Ed has no idea who these people are, so he searches the phone book. He finds two O'Reillys listed, so he heads to the first house. There he asks the man if he's Thomas O'Reilly, but this guy's name is Tony—Thomas is his bro who lives on Henry St.
  • Wait a minute, Tony says. Why do you want to know, anyhow? Ed tells the truth: he's not really sure what he wants with Thomas yet.
  • As Ed leaves, Tony asks if he can pass along a message to his brother (who's a priest, by the way). Sure, Ed says. Here is the message: greed hasn't swallowed me up yet.
  • Cut to Ed talking on the phone with his brother Tommy. He wants to know if he's the one sending the cards. His logic is that Tommy's the only one who knew about the stones.
  • After Tommy assures Ed that it's not him, they exchange a couple words and hang up.
  • Ed's going out to—what else—play cards with his friends, but on the way there, he decides to stop to see this priest.
  • As he's walking to O'Reilly's place, someone asks him for a cigarette, and his jacket. Nice neighborhood, priest.
  • Over at Ritchie's, Ed and his friends play cards and Ed wins.
  • Audrey goes out of her way to smooth things over with Ed, and once things are cool between them again, they talk about the cards.
  • Ed points out that whoever's behind this seems to know him well, which Audrey finds strange because no one knows him well.
  • Ed heads over to Father O'Reilly's and is invited in for coffee. The guy is welcoming, kind, and really down to earth, which isn't at all what Ed expected from a priest.
  • Father O'Reilly helps settle a fight outside. It's clear that this guy's good news to the community.
  • After some random small talk, Ed finally gets down to business. He tells the priest that he's there for a purpose… he's just not sure what it is yet.
  • We're not sure what we would say to such a cryptic message from a stranger, but Father O'Reilly takes it all in stride, and tells Ed to have faith and things will work out.
  • Then he takes Ed outside and introduces him to the locals; O'Reilly tells them not to bother Ed for cigarettes or his jacket. This guy's cool.
  • Just as he's leaving, Ed remembers the message from the priest's brother and delivers it to him.
  • The guy is obviously moved by the message, but Ed's not really sure how.
  • When Ed gets to Marv's place, his friends are watching Baywatch; He asks them if they'd be up for going to church with him on Sunday. It's clear they aren't really the church-going type, but Ritchie agrees. Why not? It could be fun—or funny. So the others pile on, too.
  • Later Ed's mom calls to remind him to call his sister for her birthday. Whoops—he totally forgot. He's not winning brother of the year anytime soon, and even has to call his mom back to get his sister's phone number.
  • On Sunday, Ed, Marv, Ritchie, and Audrey all go to Father O'Reilly's church. There aren't many people there, though, and it's pretty depressing.
  • After the service Ed introduces Father O'Reilly to his friends. Marv says he won't come to church again, but the priest takes it well.
  • Then it hits Ed: O'Reilly needs his church to be full. Now if only he can get more people to attend.