Midnight Mass - Book V: Gospel Quiz

Answer: At night

The Flynns enjoy breakfast but wonder as to Riley's whereabouts since it's the second night in a row he's been away from home. Annie suggests that if he's staying with Erin, then it's probably a good thing for him. Erin, meanwhile, is home alone. She texts Riley, but his phone is unattended, lying in a pool of his own blood in the rec center. Dr. Gunning, in her office, finds her mother awake and turns to find a radiant, almost younger-looking version of Mildred behind her.

In his office, Sheriff Hassan deals with a visit from Bowl's mother. She's arrived on the island searching for her son, who's been missing for days. He assures her that he's doing his best to search for Bowl, but no one seems to know quite where he is.

At St. Patrick's Church, Sturge revises the sign out front, informing the town that Masses will no longer be held during the day. The upcoming Good Friday Mass will be at 8pm; Easter Vigil will be at midnight. Wade and Sturge reassure the town that their priest will be just fine. The town is distracted, however, when Mildred Gunning is reintroduced to the town.

Answer: Riley

Erin brings herself to the Flynn household looking for Riley and neither she nor Annie really understand where he could have gone. She ends up heading down to the water to see if Riley joined his brother and father on the boat but neither have seen him. Ed can't seem to understand why he would throw it all away.

At the same time, Sheriff Hassan goes to Joe's looking for him. When he returns to his office, Erin stops by and the missing persons cases start mounting. Between Bowl, Joe, and Riley, it's obvious that something is going on but none of them have boarded the ferry to leave the island. Erin tries to outline Riley's whereabouts, indicating he should have been at AA with Joe, but he never came back after dinner with his parents.

Answer: God's army

The islanders gather at St. Patrick's Church for Good Friday Mass, taking their seats inside and preparing for another of Father Hill's sermons. The priest enters through the backdoor, advising his altar boys to keep their eyes and ears open while he refills the decanter of communion wine with his own. Inside, the Flynn's wonder if Riley will show up. Outside, Bev Keane welcomes Mildred Gunning back into the congregation, thanking God for bringing her back in time for the miracles to proceed.

Inside, Father Hill takes the altar and speaks on passion and gospel for his Good Friday sermon but his words soon take a certain turn as he talks about God's army, following him after his resurrection. They're fighting a war, he says, and all that can be done is understand that God is in all of their hearts. There will be casualties in this war, but they must be soldiers. God will ask horrible things of people, but the horrors will lead somewhere good-- the resurrection.

The sermon leaves many of the townspeople concerned. Mildred, especially, departs with haste. She tells her daughter never to go back again-- it's not her church and it's not the man she knew.

Answer: Watched the sunrise

Sarah awakens from a nap on her couch when she hears a knocking at her front door and when she opens it it's Riley. She's initially incensed with his disappearance, but he reminds her that when she ran away from Crockett's Island, she stopped at his house, woke him up, and asked him to take a boat out into the bay with her, so they did. He asks if she'll do that with her once again.

And so the two hop into the rowboat and Riley paddles them out to sea to watch the sunrise.

Out in the open water under the Milky Way, Erin asks for honesty. He talks to her about the stars and the stories of old, powerful Gods in the sky, and he warns her that the truth he's going to tell her is unbelievable. All she needs to do is listen. She promises she will.

Answer: Six hours

Riley awakened on the floor of the rec center in a pool of his own blood, listening to the sound of his phone vibrating. Father Hill removed it from the blood before grabbing Riley's neck and twisting it back into place, calming him with a story of his eight-year-old sister who, when she died of polio, spurred him to learn about religion and God's plan. Those questions brought him to the priesthood.

God still has a plan, Father Hill said, and death isn't part of it anymore.

Riley fell unconscious again, awakening only when the sun rose. Father Hill appeared to be waiting for him, seated as he normally was for their AA meetings. Terrified, Riley tried to escape out the front door but was forced back inside by the burning sunlight. He only took a seat when Father Hill promised to explain everything he could.

Answer: A lie

Father Hill started with Serenity since it applied profoundly to both of them-- "Lord, grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, the courage to change the things I can, and the wisdom to know the difference. Amen.

He started with the things they could not change. When he was younger, Father Hill was a pastor at a small community church when a young boy brought him a dying mouse in a shoebox. The boy asked him if the mouse could be resurrected in three days, like Jesus, and he took the mouse and, sure enough, gave it back to the boy three days later, healed, and let if go free before Mass. It didn't matter that Father Hill swapped out the mice, but it did give the boy evidence that God works in his ways. Riley was shocked that Father Hill could know this story particularly because the boy in it was him.

When Riley came to terms with the fact that the man before him was Monsignor Pruitt as the form God believed to be his best, he was asked why he came back to the rec center at all. Riley admitted it was Joe Collie's sister and Father Hill apologized for the lie and sought forgiveness.

Joe's death could not be changed, however. It was done and could not be undone just like what's happened to them had been done. Riley asked for the truth about what attacked him; it was an angel, Father Hill claimed.

Answer: Guilt

Bev Keane let herself into the rec center while Riley and Father Hill argued and she'd arrived just in time for a quick lesson. The priest asked Bev to come close while he restrained Riley in his seat, and as she got closer and closer, Riley realized he had an irresistible urge brought on by the sound of her heartbeat. Without Father Hill holding her back, he would attack her undeniably. Bev left until she was needed again.

Riley admitted that he felt painfully hungry when Bev was close and that something changed inside him, almost as though he fell asleep in the moment, involuntary following something else's will. Just like Riley, Father Hill felt the same things-- he died and came back the other night and then he fed on Joe and was nourished, and while he should have felt guilt, he felt none. When he accepted that, Bev showed him Hebrews 9:14 and his consciousness was cleansed to serve God. Besides this, he may have murdered Joe, but Moses was a murderer as well. In fact, so was Riley, at one time, even if he couldn't remember the details of that night.

Father Hill asked Riley how the knowledge makes him feel, and though Riley claimed he was disgusted and angry, the priest forced out the truth in that what he felt was jealousy to feel absolved of guilt.

It spurred Father Hill to the next topic: "the courage to change the things they could."

Answer: Yes

God put Riley back on Crockett's Island, Father Hill claimed, at a critical moment in the history of the world; God chose him. The changes God has imposed upon him should lead to courage. The priest apologized to Riley that he was frightened the previous night, but most people in the Bible were frightened when they beheld angels as well, and they are no different. Miracles are scary events.

Riley had to ask if Father Hill fed on him when the angel attacked him. In complete honesty, Father Hill said yes.

Bev and Sturge returned to the rec center shortly after Father Hill's apology to offer their help and blessing as per God's will. Bev, unshaken, clarified that God's return would not be pretty-- there would be suffering and pain-- but it was always right there in the Bible. They wouldn't be unprepared. Bev unleashed her frustration while Sturge sliced into his own arm and bled into a chalice. Riley was barely able to control himself in taking the cup from Bev's hands and drinking it down. Alas-- it was yet another thing that he could not change.

Answer: Walk free

The final item to come to terms with was "the wisdom to know the difference between the things we can change, the things we can't, and the things we shouldn't." Riley and Father Hill, according to the priest, were the first, but the rest would be blessed without even knowing it. The blood of the angel cured Riley's parents and Leeza and others in the community and it has done good. Father Hill asked if Riley felt at peace and Riley had to admit that yes, he did.

As night fell, Bev arrived at the rec center to gather Father Hill for Good Friday Mass. Against the wishes of Bev, Sturge, and the Scarboroughs, Father Hill also let Riley go when they had planned to keep him hidden in the rec center. Free will, however, was critical, he claimed. Father Hill handed back Riley's phone and asked him to join Mass, reminding him that one day he would once again hear and feel the hunger and join in communion with another. And he should give in to it and see it as the gift it is. God would tell him though.

As Riley departed, Bev confided in Father Hill that she was worried about the new addition to their chosen group, but the priest wasn't altogether worried; Riley's freedom would ensure the spread of their gospel.

Answer: Light

As Riley walked through town he could hear the heartbeats of its citizens and the sharp whine of the streetlights. He headed to the water's edge and listened to the waves. After Father Hill ended his Good Friday sermon, Riley watched the people of Crockett's Island as they departed the church. Feeling the hunger in his stomach, he returned home and watched his parents and brother sleeping in their beds. It was then that he proceeded to Erin's to ask her to join him for the evening.

When Riley finishes his story, Erin has to state the obvious in that Riley brought her to sea where there is nowhere for her to go. She isn't scared though, not of Riley. She says that she wants to help him get the help he needs without judgement or fear. What he needs, however, isn't to bring Erin out to isolate or scare her, but so that he won't have anywhere else to go.

As they sit in the boat, the sun starts to rise along the horizon. Riley tells her to row the boat to the mainland and leave and never come back, but he knows she wouldn't do that unless she saw the truth. The only way he can try to stop her from saving the others is by having her there for the moment. They both admit that they love one another as the sun crests the sea and the last thing he sees is the spectre of the girl he killed as she takes his hand and rises into the light.

The last Erin sees of Riley is his body bursting into smoke and flame. While she screams in terror, he crumbles to ash, leaving her alone in the boat.