Did you ever have a priest that was hilarious at Mass?

[Catholic1954]

Um, no, I am not expecting to be entertained when going to Mass. I was weary on posting this because I just knew that some people would not agree with his actions. To sum this up, his homily did teach us a lesson, but he just decided to do it with humor.

It looks like you were right about attracting the grouch responses. I say the more joyful priests, the better! St. John Bosco taught himself how to juggle and other circus tricks to get the attention of the young people at the time, yet he never lost focus on his true mission, saving the souls of lost and unwanted children.

 

[ljubim]

You have to keep in mind that he was speaking to a lot of teenagers at this mass. My priests say different homilies to the lifeteen kids, moreso, what they can understand and to keep them engaged!

I really hate when priests and deacons try to cater to teens. I’m 17 and don’t appreciate being patronized, mainly because I’ve had to correct Catholic adults over twice my age who often times have no idea what they’re talking about. And I’m not the only one… Me and my friends want to fall asleep when priests try to talk down at us, trying to teach us stuff we learned back when we were seven. But then when you get really deep into theology, that’s when we listen

If teenagers aren’t smart enough to learn about their faith then save that for youth group, and if they don’t care enough to BE engaged then nothing the priest says will MAKE them engaged. Including humor, and including cafeteria-catholic adults.

People think that mass is a show but it’s us coming to recieve Christ in the flesh, in person! Why does nobody really care about this anymore?

But I do agree that starting off with some witty quote or joke is a great way to start off a homily. Just put some substance behind it, ya know

 

[Angel_Face]

*Dear ljubim,
Well, that is a different view point! I like that!! I think sometimes we do not give the younger folks the respect that they deserve and desire! My hats off to you, ljubim! Makes ya’ think!
God Bless You,
Angel Face
*

 

[datingtrappists]

I remember this past Lent, Fr. did a series of homiles, a “March through the decologue” as he called it… The Sunday he homilized (if that’s even a word) about the 7th and 10th comandments (“respect people’s property, and don’t covet it, either!”), he did a very convincing impression of Gollum from Lord of the Rings, even pretended to have a ring in his hand when he said, “My precious, my precious!!”. This was for the TLM, which tends to not have any laughter, even when something’s funny… but Fr. had people giggling quite a bit… and I’m sure other people remember that homily, too.

Humor can be good, especially when it’s used to better explain a concept, or is somehow relevant to the homily. Unchecked humor, however, is best left for coffee and doughnuts after Mass.

 

[ljubim]

*Dear ljubim,
Well, that is a different view point! I like that!! I think sometimes we do not give the younger folks the respect that they deserve and desire! My hats off to you, ljubim! Makes ya’ think!
God Bless You,
Angel Face
*

Haha a lot of people seem to react like that God Bless you too!

datingtrappists:

I remember this past Lent, Fr. did a series of homiles, a “March through the decologue” as he called it… The Sunday he homilized (if that’s even a word) about the 7th and 10th comandments (“respect people’s property, and don’t covet it, either!”), he did a very convincing impression of Gollum from Lord of the Rings, even pretended to have a ring in his hand when he said, “My precious, my precious!!”. This was for the TLM, which tends to not have any laughter, even when something’s funny… but Fr. had people giggling quite a bit… and I’m sure other people remember that homily, too.

Humor can be good, especially when it’s used to better explain a concept, or is somehow relevant to the homily. Unchecked humor, however, is best left for coffee and doughnuts after Mass.

On a more serious note, I completely agree

 

[puzzleannie]

the best story telling I ever heard from a priest is Fr. Groeschel’s account of how Mother Teresa came to New York and her encounter with the Cardinal Archbishop (Cooke?) and how they disagreed on accommodation for her sisters. The old, damp drafty convent he offered she considered much too grand for this new branch of her order. His story is hysterical, especially in that Jersey accent of his, and you just have to hear it–final score, Mother Teresa 100, Cardinal 0.

 

[centurionguard]

the best story telling I ever heard from a priest is Fr. Groeschel’s account of how Mother Teresa came to New York and her encounter with the Cardinal Archbishop (Cooke?) and how they disagreed on accommodation for her sisters. The old, damp drafty convent he offered she considered much too grand for this new branch of her order. His story is hysterical, especially in that Jersey accent of his, and you just have to hear it–final score, Mother Teresa 100, Cardinal 0.

Beautiful Story

video.google.ca/videosearch?hl=en&source=hp&q=Fr.+Groeschel%27s+account+of+how+Mother+Teresa+came+to+New+York&um=1&ie=UTF-8&ei=ybrSSqOUN43tlAeLq6CpCg&sa=X&oi=video_result_group&ct=title&resnum=1&ved=0CA4QqwQwAA#

 

[Holly3278]

Ah, I see. So now we expect to be “entertained” at mass, that the priest is there to amuse everyone? It should not be the concern of church-goers for their priest to be “funny” or “humorous.” That’s one of the numerous differences between Catholics and fundamentalists, or at least it should be. What’s next, a priest texting Twitter updates during the liturgy?

I totally agree. We do not go to Mass to be entertained, we go to be spiritually fed.

I certainly don’t object to humor in a homily, unless that humor goes nowhere. That objection, though, stands for anything. If a priest name-drops a saint and reference some Latin terms but goes nowhere with them, that’s no different from a priest who uses jokes in his homily that have no relevance to anything. If a well-placed joke or pun or play on words highlights an important point, though, or helps make an analogy to a larger concept, then that’s a good thing. All in context.

Again, I agree. I see nothing wrong with humor in a homily so long as it is clean humor and is related to the homily in some sort of way (IOW it can be used to teach).

 

[rinnie]

Knowing Fr Scott, I would not be surprised to learn this was just a punch-line to a play on words, a la:
Lord, I love you and want to go to heaven, BUT I want to cling to my worldly possessions.

Lord, I love you and want to go to heaven, BUT do I really have to get up and go to church every Sunday?

Lord, I love you and want to go to heaven, BUT I want to keep hating my neighbor.

Everybody has a big BUT. Remember, Jesus said the window to heaven is very narrow, you can’t get into heaven if you have a big butt!

:twocents:
tee

You are correct. That is the punch line. It is not butt it is but. He used humor to get your attention. Then once he got your attention it got his point across.

So now the point we all need to find out today is what big BUT is keeping us from getting into heaven. And maybe we can also get working getting rid of that big but so we can enter that narrow road.

We all got big BUTS do we not?

 

[st_lucy]

I think that some on this thread are way off thinking that there should be no humor in the homily. Humor is good this is one thing I always teach my children. I love it when a priest is funny and can make us laugh during his homily. And the OP did say that this was NOT a teen mass so that whole line of “why are we catering to teens?” is way off. The priest is obviously just being himself, he was able to get his point across all while being funny and helping others to understand him by causing them to laugh. Obviously at LEAST one person left mass with a full understanding of what the priest was saying. I say good job to Fr Scott Seethaler, and thank you OP for posting this.

 

[st_lucy]

You are correct. That is the punch line. It is not butt it is but. He used humor to get your attention. Then once he got your attention it got his point across.

So now the point we all need to find out today is what big BUT is keeping us from getting into heaven. And maybe we can also get working getting rid of that big but so we can enter that narrow road.

We all got big BUTS do we not?

That is funny, I love that! I know I keep having that big BUT.

 

[MetalMark]

The priest at the church I go to intersects a few very funny jokes into most of his homilies, but they are always extremely relevant to the subject at hand, and are never irreverent.

 

[baltobetsy]

I really hate when priests and deacons try to cater to teens. I’m 17 and don’t appreciate being patronized, mainly because I’ve had to correct Catholic adults over twice my age who often times have no idea what they’re talking about. And I’m not the only one… Me and my friends want to fall asleep when priests try to talk down at us, trying to teach us stuff we learned back when we were seven. But then when you get really deep into theology, that’s when we listen

How nice for you that you have such good formation and thorough grasp of theology. Please be aware that there are many teens whose sole focus in life is the mall and Facebook. God loves them, too, and wants them to get to know Him. That may require methods that do not appeal to you and your friends. Charity requires you to be patient with that, if not to reach out to them yourselves.

I would encourage you to meditate on the scene from the fifth Joyful mystery of the Rosary, where Jesus is found among the teachers in the temple. They were surely adults over twice His age who may not have known what they were talking about. Did He simply jump in and correct them in a manner inappropriate for His age? No, His method of teaching in that situation was to behave respectfully toward His elders, as a child of His age should do. He asked questions that led them to the right conclusions without embarrassing them. Although He was God and not subject to inadequate knowledge, it is good for the rest of teenage humanity to realize that time, experience and further study just might give adults a deeper understanding of doctrine than that which you have at this stage in your life, regardless of how well you can quote the Catechism.

As I am sure you want to have credibility when you write, I also encourage you to use correct grammatical constructions such as, “My friends and I,” instead of “Me and my friends” as the subject of your sentence.

Betsy

 

[havana1]

How nice for you that you have such good formation and thorough grasp of theology. Please be aware that there are many teens whose sole focus in life is the mall and Facebook. God loves them, too, and wants them to get to know Him. That may require methods that do not appeal to you and your friends.

And, unfortunately, there are many Catholic singles whose sole focus is going to night clubs and drinking and sleeping around. God loves those Catholic singles and wants them to know Him, too, despite those singles never being afforded the special preferential treatment teens get with their “LifeTeen” masses. Catechizing those Catholic singles may require methods that do not appeal to you and your friends.

What’s the proverbial recidivism rate of teen-oriented catechesis, anyway? A lot of those revved-up teens leave the Church once they’re out of high school and find out they’re not going to be “entertained” at church anymore. Sounds like a roll of the dice to me.

 

[spellinggirl]

Fr Milton Ryan (who used to visit my parish quite often until he moved) was the funniest man I’ve ever met. He described his mother’s attitude toward him becoming a priest in the funniest way!

“Mom, I want to be a priest.”
“But Milton, you’re not Catholic!”

Awesome. I miss that guy so much.

 

[sckcd]

Um, no, I am not expecting to be entertained when going to Mass. I was weary on posting this because I just knew that some people would not agree with his actions. To sum this up, his homily did teach us a lesson, but he just decided to do it with humor.

Lol, there will always be sticks in the mud. As long as a lesson is learned, humor is great IMO.