As a young man, Norton was an exceptional golfer. At the age of 26, however, he decided to become a priest, and joined a rather peculiar order. He took the usual vows of poverty and chastity, but his order also required that he quit golf and never play again. This was particularly difficult for Norton, but he agreed and was finally ordained a priest.
One exceptionally beautiful Sunday morning, the Reverend Father Norton woke up knowing that he just had to play golf. So he told the associate pastor that he was feeling sick, asking him to take over the mass for that day. As soon as the associate pastor had left the room, Father Norton was out the door, headed for a golf course a couple of hours away (so he would not accidentally meet anyone he knew from his parish). Setting up on the first tee, he was alone, utterly alone. After all, it was Sunday morning and everyone else was in church.
At about this time, Saint Peter leaned over to the Lord and asked, "You are not going to let him get away with this, are you?"
The Lord sighed, and answered, "No, I guess not."
Father Norton hit the ball. It shot straight towards the pin, landed just short of it ... rolled up, and dropped neatly into the hole. It was a 420-yard hole in one!
St. Peter was astonished: "Why in heaven did you let him do that?"
The Lord smiled. "Who is he going to tell?"
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