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

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We had Mass today and our guest speaker was Father Scott Seethaler (Has anyone heard of him?) and he was hilarious. He was telling us stories of how at lunch in Catholic school there was two baskets - one of apples, and one of cookies. So, the nun in charge made a sign for the apples saying “REMEMBER, TAKE ONE APPLE - GOD IS WATCHING!” And a kid made one for the cookie basket that said “TAKE ALL THE COOKIES YOU WANT - GOD’S WATCHING THE APPLES!” Hahaha he was hilarious. Then to end off his homily, he was saying “Remember, Jesus said the window to heaven is very narrow, you can’t get into heaven if you have a big butt!” Haha. I love funny priests, they have great humor.

Anyone have any experiences with funny priests?

After Mass he was speaking with us 7-12 graders for about an hour, and he was saying how there was one kid at a Bible Camp who had some kind of disease, and the kids always made fun of him. So, they volunteered this kid to do something in church, because they thought it would be hilarious to see him up there because they think he’s making a fool of himself. So, he goes up to say something and Fr. Scott was saying how it took this kid 5 minutes (because of his disease to say) “Jesus loves me, and I love Jesus.” And then he told us the kids were crying their eyes out after he said that. That almost made me cry. Such a gifted man.
 
Aww, haha! He sounds awesome!

The priests I’ve been around are generally gentle, but not outwardly humourous.
 
CatholicZ09 said:
“Remember, Jesus said the window to heaven is very narrow, you can’t get into heaven if you have a big butt!” Haha. I love funny priests, they have great humor.

Anyone have any experiences with funny priests?
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I don’t agree with what this priest said. In other words, not funny.

The priest’s goal in the homily is not to put on a show, but to teach us about the faith.

From the General Instructions of the Roman Missal
usccb.org/liturgy/current/GIRM.pdf
The homily is part of the Liturgy and is strongly recommended, for it is necessary for
the nurturing of the Christian life. It should be an exposition of some aspect of the readings from
Sacred Scripture or of another text from the Ordinary or from the Proper of the Mass of the day
and should take into account both the mystery being celebrated and the particular needs of the
listeners.
Click to expand...
 
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? :eek:
 
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.
 
*I believe the Homily should always be an eye-opener for all to grow in holiness with Our Savior. A little humor goes a long way, as long as that way is through the eyes and heart of Christ Jesus!
God Bless and keep us,
Angel Face
*
 
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.
 
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!
 
kristanl said:
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!
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Oh no, let me correct myself.

To say the least, his homily wasn’t ALL humor, their were just little jokes here and there. Also, this Mass was 8:30am and 11am Sunday Masses, these weren’t aimed for teens. There was a group of us AFTER the 11am Mass that listened to him speak to us.
 
I think a little humor can be great to get across a larger point! However, it can go too far, and also I think using words like “butt” come very close to crossing a line.
 
Yes many Priest’s can bring the word of God to us through humor. And I think it is wonderful.

God gives Priest special gifts just like he does us. Some can teach by being very serious and get their point across, some can be funny. It does not matter as long as God’s message gets across thats all that counts.

But as you can see a Priest will never make everyone happy.

We had one, one sunday and he said he was giving his sermon and said whoever is going to hell stand up. No one stood up. Finally one man stood up, and Father said why did you stand up. The man said I didn’t want you to be the only one Father:eek:

Humor is great, its great to laugh, and whats even greater is to learn a lesson from God also.

I know my family was full of laughter. All my Dad did was laugh. He has been gone now for almost 2 years. I would give anything to just hear that laugh. He was one of those people that you laughed harder than him just watching him laugh. 😃
 
[SIGN][/SIGN]
CatholicZ09 said:
We had Mass today and our guest speaker was[SIGN] Father Scott Seethaler [/SIGN](Has anyone heard of him?) and he was hilarious. He was telling us stories of how at lunch in Catholic school there was two baskets - one of apples, and one of cookies. So, the nun in charge made a sign for the apples saying “REMEMBER, TAKE ONE APPLE - GOD IS WATCHING!” And a kid made one for the cookie basket that said “TAKE ALL THE COOKIES YOU WANT - GOD’S WATCHING THE APPLES!” Hahaha he was hilarious. Then to end off his homily, he was saying “Remember, Jesus said the window to heaven is very narrow, you can’t get into heaven if you have a big butt!” Haha. I love funny priests, they have great humor.

Anyone have any experiences with funny priests?

After Mass he was speaking with us 7-12 graders for about an hour, and he was saying how there was one kid at a Bible Camp who had some kind of disease, and the kids always made fun of him. So, they volunteered this kid to do something in church, because they thought it would be hilarious to see him up there because they think he’s making a fool of himself. So, he goes up to say something and Fr. Scott was saying how it took this kid 5 minutes (because of his disease to say) “Jesus loves me, and I love Jesus.” And then he told us the kids were crying their eyes out after he said that. That almost made me cry. Such a gifted man.
Click to expand...
By the way Yes, I had the honor of having him. The man is priceless!😃 Just looking at him and you are in stitches.
 
Obviously the priest was speaking to teens. Therefore a homily directed at teens and their attention span is much different than a homily for grizzled veterans and their attention span.

If he can relate to teens and get the message accross it would be a blessing.

Z09

When I was in Catholic grade school we had a priest Father Bob who was funny and got the message across. Today at Mass the priest in training gave the homily (he is a deacon and will be ordained next year just in case for some of the other members here) and he was pretty funny to an adult audience. He made his message crystal clear. The funny thing is he is in his mid twenties and he really gave it to the parishioners who are typically in their 40’s.

So the key is as long as the message is delivered (bringing the day’s reading into daily application, how it applies to one’s life and what Jesus is teaching) there is nothing wrong with it.

Peace
 
CatholicZ09 said:
Then to end off his homily, he was saying “Remember, Jesus said the window to heaven is very narrow, you can’t get into heaven if you have a big butt!” Haha. I love funny priests, they have great humor.
Click to expand...
ibkc said:
I think a little humor can be great to get across a larger point! However, it can go too far, and also I think using words like “butt” come very close to crossing a line.
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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
 
Maui71 said:
Obviously the priest was speaking to teens. Therefore a homily directed at teens and their attention span is much different…
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Why do teens special preferential treatment (let guess: LifeTeen mass) and single Catholics are still ignored and marginalized? Why can’t a priest ever give a homily to singles? Many of those same teens, if not married by the time they’re 29 or 30, will be potential “fallen-away Catholics” because they will expect to be “entertained” at Church and leave the Church when they don’t find it “entertaining” anymore (well, that, and the fact that the church treats singles like lepers, but that’s not the topic at hand.)
 
tee_eff_em said:
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
Click to expand...
great post!!
 
ibkc said:
I think a little humor can be great to get across a larger point! However, it can go too far, and also I think using words like “butt” come very close to crossing a line.
Click to expand...
My priest once started a homily with “You can scare the hell out of people, but you can’t scare them into heaven”. Is that close to crossing the line? Because he made a very good point.

I agree there are times when humor can be an excellent way to get the point across and there are time where humor detracts from the point. Everything has a place.
 
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