There was an old priest from a church in County Cork in the south of Ireland who enjoyed a drink of liquor now and then, but his real passion was peach brandy.
Now Feargus, who had been a member of his congregation for many years, would give the priest a bottle of peach brandy every Christmas.
The priest would savour the bottle of liquor, often making it last until Easter, but then he would spend the rest of the year longing for the taste and as Summer turned to Autumn, he would relish the thought that Christmas wasn’t far away.
One year, the priest went to visit his friend Feargus, hoping to receive his usual Christmas present.
He was not disappointed, however his friend told him that he had to thank him for the peach brandy from the pulpit the next Sunday.
In his haste to get the bottle of peach brandy, the priest hurriedly agreed to the request and then left.
So, the following Sunday, right before the Mass was about to begin, the priest suddenly remembered about the request that Feargus had made. He mildly panicked, realising that he had to make a public announcement about being supplied with alcohol from a member of the church. What a dilemna!
That morning, Feargus sat in the front pew of the church, with a rather large grin on his face, eagerly waiting to see the priest’s embarrassment.
The priest climbed into the pulpit to give the sermon and said to the congregation, “Before we begin, I have an announcement. I would very much like to thank my friend Feargus, for his kind gift of peaches and for the spirit in which they were given!”
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