An old priest lay dying in a hospital. He had faithfully served the people of New Zealand for many years. He motioned for his nurse to come near.
‘Yes, Father?’ said the nurse.
‘Before I pass on, I would really like to see ex Labour Party ministers Shane Jones and Chris Carter’, whispered the priest.
‘I’ll see what I can do, Father’, replied the nurse. The nurse telephoned his request to the Labour Party headquarters and waited for a response. Soon word arrived; Shane and Chris would be delighted to visit the dying priest. As they drove to the hospital, Shane commented to Chris, ‘I don’t know why the old priest wants to see us, but it certainly will
help our images, given the revelations last week about our parliamentary credit card spending – it might even save our political careers!”
When they arrived at the priest’s room, the priest took Shane’s hand in his right hand and Chris’s hand in his left. There was silence and a look of serenity on the old priest’s face.
Finally Shane Jones spoke: ‘Father, of all the people you could have chosen, why did you choose us to be with you as you near the end?’
The old priest slowly replied, ‘I have always tried to pattern my life after our Lord and Saviour, Jesus Christ.’
‘Amen’, said Shane.
‘Amen’, said Chris.
The old priest continued: ‘Jesus Christ our saviour died between two lying thieving bastards and I wanted to do the same.’