The Secret of Fatima Read Online Free PDF

this—beyond our rational understanding. It starts with true faith in God.” He took a breath, noticing the tears streaming down Katie’s cheeks. “Believe me, Katie. Or have you lost your faith? Remember Joan of Arc? She heard voices and followed them.” He reached out to take her hand. But she winced, rolling away from him.
    â€œJoan of Arc?” Katie snapped. “Are you plagued with visions of burning at the stake, too? You sound delusional. Either that, or you’re cracking up.”
    Kevin shrugged. “Okay, if you must, call me delusional. But Katie, He is calling me to the priesthood. It’s my calling, Katie. The priesthood. Look, I fought it at first. Crazy idea. No way. But the more I fought it, the stronger it grew. I could hear Him telling me he wanted me in His service. And when I’ve looked at other options—you and me getting married—it wasn’t right. It receded into darkness, faded out of the picture. Disappeared. There’s nothing else for me.”
    Katie was inconsolable. “After all this time we’ve been together, you’re telling me this now?”
    Shaking his head, Kevin’s eyes dropped to the table. “In this past year, it’s only become more real for me. Honestly, I wish I could explain the power of this force. I hope you’ll believe me, trust me when I tell you it’s real.”
    â€œKevin, there are other ways to serve God! Lots and lots of other ways. Are you just going to throw our love to the wind? I don’t understand how you could possibly think that’s what God wants?”
    Again, Kevin reached for her hand, but again she pulled away. “No, of course not. But our relationship, the one we now enjoy, will dissolve. We’ll still be friends. We love each other. Everyone needs love, Katie, even priests.”
    Holding her hands in the air, Katie was mocking him using finger quotation signs: “Just friends, right?”
    â€œC’mon, Katie, don’t take it that way.”
    â€œDon’t take it like what? Spurned? Jilted? Thrown out for the priesthood? At least if there were another woman I’d have a fighting chance. What’d you expect? Good God, it’d be easier if you told me you preferred boys!”
    â€œYou don’t mean that, Katie,” Kevin said.
    â€œI’ve just one question for you, Kev,” said Katie, staring deep into his eyes. “Are you sure? Are you absolutely 100 percent sure this is what you want for the rest of your life?”
    Kevin couldn’t bear to look in her eyes. In them, he saw the pain and the hurt, and he knew he’d caused it. He looked away, nodding. “I’m sure, Katie. It’s been torturing me.”
    She bolted up. “Then, I don’t think there’s anything else to say. Good luck with your Jesus. I hope he keeps you warm at night.”
    Before Kevin could say good-bye, Katie already had snatched up her purse and stormed from the café. Visibly shaken, Kevin’s world was changing forever. He’d miss Katie. But this was something bigger than him. A power had possessed him. A decision, yes, but really not: there’d been no choice.
    Packing his suitcase, in his mind’s eye Kevin could see the hurt on Katie’s face. But they wouldn’t remain apart. One wish had come true for him: Over the years, they’d drifted back to each other, sometimes at first uncomfortably, but over time, their separation had become comfortable and familiar terrain. It’d even deepened their relationship. Well, maybe Katie wouldn’t get married, maybe she’d go on loving him, on his terms. Maybe no one would ever come between them.
    Often Kevin had tried to pinpoint when it was, exactly, that he’d made the fateful decision to serve God as a priest. Thinking about it, different scenes popped into his thoughts. He remembered studying about the concept of free will. God had created