"Michael, we both know how smart you are, but there's a difference between intelligence and wisdom. And if you don't figure that out eventually, you're gonna have a lot bigger problems than an F, because you can't outsmart–" "God?" "I know. I know you don't believe in God, so let's just call them... consequences." — Sam Walker and Mike Ross
Fr. Sam Walker is a Roman Catholic priest and the former high school teacher of Mike Ross.
History
"Michael, if you're worried about Rachel leaving you, if you stop doing what you're doing, I don't think she will." "How do you know?" "'Cause I have faith."
Father Sam Walker is the priest of a Roman Catholic church in New York and a teacher at the church's school. Following the death of James and Nina Ross, Walker gave their son Mike Ross a pendant of Saint William, patron saint of orphans, and urged him to attend his parents' memorial service and provide support for his grandmother, Edith.
Mike later attended the church's Catholic school, although he began to act out as he got older, throwing away his childhood books and skipping school on parent-teacher conference day by forging Edith's signature, prompting Walker to give Mike an F on his history paper. Mike then chose to return his school uniform to Walker and stole $936 from Walker's cash box, claiming that his parents had donated $3 every week for six years, and that he considered the $936 to belong to his parents.
Many years later, Mike paid a visit to Father Walker after being notified by Trevor Evans that he had spoken to Walker himself. Wanting to shield himself from possible prosecution, Mike used the protection of the confessional to divulge his secret to Walker, although Walker was already aware of Mike's fraud, having been informed by Trevor. Mike wished to receive validation that his fraud was a good thing, claiming that he was a good man who was helping people, and returned the $936 to Walker. Walker, however, refused to give him his validation, and urged him to quit. Mike admitted that he was afraid that Rachel Zane would leave his life like his parents did; this caused Walker to urge Mike to follow him to the church's library, where he revealed that Edith had paid back the $936 years ago out of her own pocket under the provision that a portion of it be used to have a bookshelf containing Mike's childhood books, which she had saved. As Mike cried over having his childhood books back, Walker stated that he did not know why Edith had requested such a provision until this moment, and allowed Mike to keep the Curious George book, which his mother had read to him every night and contained a personal message from her inside.[1]
