Father Ernest Burner is approached by an insurance salesman selling plans that target clergymen specifically. He is not too convinced by the spiel, but Tracy's visit reminds him that he does not have much wealth to fall back on should he need it. He sends the salesman away and returns to his breakfast, where he is joined by the junior clergymen Quinlan and Keefe. They discuss the financial and administrative affairs of their church as Burner eats, but throughout the conversation, he feels conscious of their judgement of him - for his weight, for how much he is eating, and for the fact that he is the only one of his year not to have received a routine promotion or even his own parish. Some time passes, and Father Burner dresses in his room as he reflects on his golf prowess in his younger days and looks at himself now, realizing that he is not the same man anymore. He nurtures ecclesiastical ambitions and writes a letter to the Archbishop to request a parish of his own in the country, but ultimately forgets to the send the letter. While he is out, Burner reflects upon his time at the church: the Dean constantly mocks his weight, implying the sin of gluttony, and he also believes that his peers have the mark of true priesthood while he himself lacks the conviction. Eventually Burner is summoned to the Cathedral by the Archbishop, and he allows himself to hope that he will finally be granted his own parish. He lashes out in judgement of others as a response to the judgement he feels from him, and is entirely blind to his own sins: even though he is a priest, he smokes, drinks, despises the sight of those who truly believe in Christ, and dismisses those that come to his confessional. Burner and the Archbishop converse. At every turn, Burner feels as though he has fallen into a trap meant to expose sinners, but he feels relief when he is given an envelope containing his fate. Burner is told to open it on the following day after Mass, but he opens it minutes later, only to find that his request has yet again been denied; he is demoted to being the assistant of yet another Reverend.