My Explaination To A Priest On Why He Failed His Driving Test

OK, he wasn't quite a priest yet.  Thursday Andrew (not Andy) leaves to complete his senior collegiate year at St. Thomas Seminary located in St. Paul, Minnesota.  I guess there are still 4 more years of priest prep to go for him.

Before we began our drive Andrew (not Andy) was very concerned about the number of points he could receive and still pass.  "How many points did I get?" Andrew (not Andy) asked after completing his parking maneuvers.  I told him he passed with just 3 points against him and that those points do not carry over into the driving portion.

"How many points can I get on the driving part and still pass?"  inquires Andrew (not Andy).  I tell him that 25 or fewer points are passing and that 26 or more will mean that he has to retake the exam, unless he fails for doing something really bad which also means a retake.

The young priest to be is progressing fine at the beginning of the drive.  His traffic checks are pretty good although not perfect and a couple of times he stops a little pass the required stop lines.  Then we get to busy 28th street and as we are approaching a red light just before the freeway Andrew (not Andy) is doing 40 with no clear indication that he sees the light or is going to stop.  This prompts my urgent request for him to stop which he does with a nice little squeal of the brakes.

Andrew (not Andy) tells me he is sorry for that and we go on, but not very much further because we happen to be about a half mile from where we started and his action means that we return to base without completing the route.

I tell Andrew (not Andy) that most driving mistakes, like missing traffic checks or going a little pass a stop line are like venial sins.  You can get a lot of them and still pass.  Big mistakes, like going through a stop light or having the examiner stop one from going through a stop light are like mortal sins.  They're bad.  Real bad.

I can see the light bulb go off in Andrew's (not Andy's) face.  "Oh, I failed the test?"  to which I reply; "I must confess you did."