Over the last few days we have had a number of petty robberies in church. Someone got their hands on a spare key, or made a copy, and has been letting themselves in and stealing everything from loo rolls to money. After the second robbery we arranged for the locks to be changed â?? which cost a few hundred quid that we donâ??t really have. But worst of all, the night before the locksmith arrived, the thief came back for a third time, taking the food we collect for the local food bank and nicking the church candlesticks straight off the altar.
Since then Iâ??ve been pondering that bit from Les Misérables in which Jean Valjean is caught by the gendarmes stealing silver from the church. This is how Victor Hugo describes the bishopâ??s reaction on being presented with the thief. â??Ah! Here you are!â? he exclaimed, looking at Valjean. â??I am glad to see you. Well, but how is this? I gave you the candlesticks too, which are of silver like the rest, and for which you can certainly get 200 francs. Why did you not carry them away with your forks and spoons?â? This is the moment of redemption on which the story turns. The bishop continues: â??Jean Valjean, my brother, you no longer belong to evil, but to good. It is your soul that I buy from you; I withdraw it from black thoughts and the spirit of perdition, and I give it to God.â?
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