The 10 Commandments and Murphy’s Hat

Murphy had never been seen in church in his life, and the priest nearly collapsed in shock when Murphy walked through the door for Mass one Sunday.

After Mass, the priest caught up with Murphy. “I’m so glad ye decided to jine us today, Murphy,” he said. “But I’m curious. What was it that brought ye here?”

“I got to be honest with ye Father,” Murphy replied. “A while back I lost me hat, and I really, really love that hat. I know that McGlynn had a hat just like mine, and I knew that McGlynn come to church every Sunday. I also knew that McGlynn had to take that hat off ‘is head during Mass and figured he’d leave it in the back of church. So, I was going to leave after communion and steal McGlynn’s hat.”

The priest said, “Well, Murphy, I see that ye didn’t steal McGlynn’s hat. What changed your mind?”

Murphy said, “Well, after I heard yer sermon on the 10 Commandments, I decided that I didn’t want to steal McGlynn’s hat after all.”

The priest gave Murphy a big smile. “Ah, I see,” he said. “After I talked about ‘Thou Shalt Not Steal’ ye decided ye’d rather do without yer hat than burn in Hell, eh?”

Murphy shook his head and said, “No, Father, after ye talked about ‘Thou Shalt Not Commit Adultery’ I remembered where I left the thing in the first place.”