Is There a Place For Humor In Catholicism?

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Bruno_Schulz said:
**It’s to be agreed to both of you. But still there are voices who speak different and are true too:
The devil is even by some modernist theologians nonexistent, even though Jesus told us about him.
So, if it’s done good, I don’t really think it’s too bad to show the Devil
Rosemary’s baby however was trash anyhow, for God won’t let the devil have a human (in this case a baby) if this human did not decide yet against God.

Blasphemy on TV however, is another thing. I did not switch off, but wrote to the station and explained what was the blasphemy, why it was blasphemy and why it’s a shame for the station to send such stuff.
This works with serious stations – not with like MTV.

There was an otherwise kind of funny thing on “ZDF” last year march and a “comedian” made a disgusting joke about God. The audience laughed and applauded. I can’t tell here what it was, - too disgusting. I wrote to them, and they apologized and promised to be more careful next time.

There was a sausage, called “Jesus-Salami”. I wrote to Germanys biggest food-vendor and explained why this is blasphemy at it’s outmost. The food-chain took this sausage off the market!

But here’s the topic Place For Humor In Catholicism? Well; a dear friend of mine told me the other day, that I’m totally wrong in telling people how joyful faith in God is, for in Matth 5:12 or Luke 6:23 Jesus speaks about our joy in heaven – not here!

Well, I told him and others in our “round-mail-circle”: No, you’re wrong.

But let me explain later today in the thread
Believe in God; - joyful or burdensome?
forums.catholic-questions.org/showthread.php?p=4731170&posted=1#post4731170**
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Bruno - Action is very good. We should all take action.

A funny thing just popped into my mind.

My husband was visiting Portugal about 20 years ago when he met an old colleague of his Father in the street. At that time a lot of people had left the Colonies and returned to Portugal after the revolution and there was a lot of “freedom”. Pornograph was everywhere.

This man had a very funny habit. As he talked to you he would brush your coat with his hand as if he found threads on your coat, straighten your tie, brush off your shoulders, etc. I would go crazy watching him (he was not aware of what he was doing) :rotfl:

On this occasion he said "This place is terrible! It is full of pornography. Have you seen XXXXX?

"The people here are crazy about these terrible films! By the way have you seen YYYYY?

"They are everywhere - disgusting. Have you seen ZZZZZ?

LOL :rotfl: :rotfl: - he had seen them all!!
 
**The funny thing is: We get a lot of porn-spam ALL FROM USA (never from Germany).

The guy brushing imaginary threads off you, was about to loose his marbles. I often had to learn this with people who suffered of PTS (post traumatic suffering) and Portuguese Africa was hell as so many other places.

Right now, the 35year old son of a friend is about to loose his mind, but for no obvious reason. Yesterday in church when the parish prayed the Lords Prayer, at the point “AND DELIVER US FROM EVEL” he shouted this as loud as he could and everyone looked shocked at him.

I simply don’t know what to advise his parents. In fact he ought to go to psychiatry – but he doesn’t, and before threatening things happen, he can’t be introduced there. From time to time he shouts “the devil is getting you all”. Even though he lit a fire in his flat, he’s not being taken compulsory to a psychiatry. His parents are shocked.

But sorry, this is far off topic here. Let it not trouble you – it’s enough when we are very much troubled about this right now.
**
 
**It is my conviction, that tragedies like the mentioned one further up with that young man, are caused by people’s idea, that there is no place for humor in their life left, when they fully obey God’s commands. (as by now the over 3% here)

This definitely is a wrong view of Catholicism.
Pope Benedict XVI. and JP2 love to laugh and do (did) so often. I know several Priest who are real funny and happy. I used to know some monks who where mockingbirds.

What on earth do people think stops humor, when strongly believing.
I myself am absolutely convinced of the gospel, the Church, the Bible and I wouldn’t live without.
But I also couldn’t live without humor.

Religion isn’t sad - its THE HAPPY MESSAGE.
Why else would we say then Merry Christmas! or Happy Easter! **
 
Bruno_Schulz said:
** ,I myself am absolutely convinced of the gospel, the Church, the Bible and I wouldn’t live without.
But I also couldn’t live without humor.
**

**Hi Bruno, 👋

In your case you need humor.I have seen your pictures! :eek:

Now do you understand what my signature quote means? I didn’t forget that “military” crack you made.:mad: This is called pay back! )😃 😃 😃

Any word on the Madonna? **
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I wonder how many times I have to repeat this?

God dose not have a sense of humor. A sense of humor would require God to have emotions. God dose not have emotions, He is not a human being. Jesus Christ, on the other hand, dose have a sense of humor, and we all have a sense of humor because He is the One in whom God created us, for Jesus is the Image of God.

Of course, if you want to technical about it, one could say God has a sense of humor since He has a Body, and this in light of the Mystery of the Incarnation. But it would be wrong to say that God - who is Spirit - has a sense of humor in Himself; instead, He has a sense of humor in light of His becoming man.

Some people say God has a sense of humor because He made mirrors or platypus or other such things, however this would mean that God created or permitted such things because He thought they were funny. This is not the case. Rather, God has created everything for man, and what He has permitted for man has been permitted because He knew man would enjoy it (good) and He could bring a greater good out of it (evil); hence, He created the platypus because He knew man would find it funny, it would bring him happiness, and He permitted the extinction of dinosaurs so that man could learn a valuable lesson: the proud are humbled, and man, while part animal, has a spirit which God has created. It could further be argued that God permitted the dinosaur extinction for man’s sake, for if dinosaurs existed, man would not last long, and would probably go extinct before he could populate the world.

And I do honestly believe Jesus had a sense of humor, and not just because He was human in all ways save sin; rather, I believe it because of how He sometimes acted in the gospel. He loved to use a lot of puns when He spoke, among other things which I’ve already listed in my list of biblical humor.
 
Eucharisted said:
I wonder how many times I have to repeat this? God dose not have a sense of humor. A sense of humor would require God to have emotions. God dose not have emotions, He is not a human being.
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“Deus caritas est” the first encyclical from Benedict XVI, seems to disagree with you in this regard. :confused:
 
Thanks, Realcatholicgk, for starting this thread.

Some years ago I found a book in a used bookstore called “The Humor of Christ.” It was written by a Protestant minister and I think it was Dwight Moody or Edgar Goodspeed, one of those. I can’t recall exactly. But it was an interesting little book listing those times in the Gospels where the author thought Jesus was expressing a sense of humor. (We moved and I lost the book. I’d like to re-read it.)

Here’s my contribution: On an airplane are a priest, pastor, and rabbi. There is a terrible, terrible storm over the ocean and the pilot is losing control of the plane. It is certain death. Everyone is panicking. There is 15 minutes of fuel left before they crash.

The pastor and the priest each get up to try and calm the passengers and they also give a pitch as to why the passengers should convert to their faith and be saved.

The rabbi gets up last and says, “Good people, we have 15 minutes to learn to swim.”
 
po18guy said:
“Deus caritas est” the first encyclical from Benedict XVI, seems to disagree with you in this regard. :confused:
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Love is action, not emotion. “To fall in love” is emotion, but love - charity - is action. To love someone means to will their good; hence, God wills our greatest good, becuase He is Love itself.
 
Eucharisted said:
Love is action, not emotion. “To fall in love” is emotion, but love - charity - is action. To love someone means to will their good; hence, God wills our greatest good, becuase He is Love itself.
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Give me some time to scour the catechism on this one.
 
Eucharisted said:
I wonder how many times I have to repeat this?

God dose not have a sense of humor. A sense of humor would require God to have emotions. God dose not have emotions, He is not a human being. Jesus Christ, on the other hand, dose have a sense of humor, and we all have a sense of humor because He is the One in whom God created us, for Jesus is the Image of God.

Of course, if you want to technical about it, one could say God has a sense of humor since He has a Body, and this in light of the Mystery of the Incarnation. But it would be wrong to say that God - who is Spirit - has a sense of humor in Himself; instead, He has a sense of humor in light of His becoming man.

Some people say God has a sense of humor because He made mirrors or platypus or other such things, however this would mean that God created or permitted such things because He thought they were funny. This is not the case. Rather, God has created everything for man, and what He has permitted for man has been permitted because He knew man would enjoy it (good) and He could bring a greater good out of it (evil); hence, He created the platypus because He knew man would find it funny, it would bring him happiness, and He permitted the extinction of dinosaurs so that man could learn a valuable lesson: the proud are humbled, and man, while part animal, has a spirit which God has created. It could further be argued that God permitted the dinosaur extinction for man’s sake, for if dinosaurs existed, man would not last long, and would probably go extinct before he could populate the world.

And I do honestly believe Jesus had a sense of humor, and not just because He was human in all ways save sin; rather, I believe it because of how He sometimes acted in the gospel. He loved to use a lot of puns when He spoke, among other things which I’ve already listed in my list of biblical humor.
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Hi Euchar, 👋
So the God that you designed in your mind has no feelings? No emotions? No love? No humor? No pity? No Compassion? No happiness?. That is a strange God. You are wecome to keep Him. I like the Real God much better!👍 God Bless
 
Realcatholicgk said:
Hi Euchar, 👋
So the God that you designed in your mind has no feelings? No emotions? No love? No humor? No pity? No Compassion? No happiness?. That is a strange God. You are wecome to keep Him. I like the Real God much better!👍 God Bless
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D’accord, mon ami! If we are created in God’s image, then I believe he most certainly does have a sense of humor. The difference is that His sense of humor has not been perverted by the dtain of sin.
 
Section 43 from the Catechism of the Catholic Church: (43) Admittedly, in speaking about God like this, our language is using human modes of expression; nevertheless it really does attain to God himself, though unable to express him in his infinite simplicity. Likewise, we must recall that “between Creator and creature no similitude can be expressed without implying an even greater dissimilitude”;17 and that “concerning God, we cannot grasp what he is, but only what he is not, and how other beings stand in relation to him.”
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Similitude (from the Latin similis) indicates a similarity, a resemblance, but most certainly not, in God’s case, anything faintly suggesting parity. As Saint Paul said, we see now faintly as through a mirror, but then clearly, as face to face. At that time, we will know perfectly as we are known perfectly.

And, since even greater dissimilitude is implied when speaking of the Lord, perhaps an infinitely greater range, an intensification, a perfection of humanness will be realized in the One True God.

Does this not point to a personal God, in which we have our imperfect attributes only from He Who has perfect attributes? Too much scripture mentions a God of jealousy, wrath, love, anger, reason, etc. And these remain limited, insufficient human descriptions of that which we cannot comprehend or understand.

Long story short: With the exception of all sinful urges, do we not have the attributes of God, however reduced, - to include those aspects we call emotions? This would include a sense of humor, of course.
 
po18guy said:
Similitude (from the Latin similis) indicates a similarity, a resemblance, but most certainly not, in God’s case, anything faintly suggesting parity. As Saint Paul said, we see now faintly as through a mirror, but then clearly, as face to face. At that time, we will know perfectly as we are known perfectly.

And, since even greater dissimilitude is implied when speaking of the Lord, perhaps an infinitely greater range, an intensification, a perfection of humanness will be realized in the One True God.

Does this not point to a personal God, in which we have our imperfect attributes only from He Who has perfect attributes? Too much scripture mentions a God of jealousy, wrath, love, anger, reason, etc. And these remain limited, insufficient human descriptions of that which we cannot comprehend or understand.

Long story short: With the exception of all sinful urges, do we not have the attributes of God, however reduced, - to include those aspects we call emotions? This would include a sense of humor, of course.
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**
Hi po18, 👋

IF I understand what you wrote 🤷 I think you agree that God has a sense of humor. As someone once told me " Not only are you verbouse, redundant and superfluous, but you also tend to use more words than necessary" .:rotfl: :rotfl:

Do you know any jokes? 😛 [Wondering if I should have asked that question to po18 :hmmm: ]

Did you hear about the Buddhist who refused his dentist’s Novocain during root canal work? He wanted to transcend dental medication. 😃

A kindergarten teacher was walking around observing her classroom of children while they were drawing pictures. As she got to one girl who was working diligently, she asked what the drawing was.The girl replied, “I’m drawing God.”
The teacher paused and said, “But no one knows what God looks like.” Without looking up from her drawing, the girl replied, “They will in a minute.” 😃

God Bless**

“Laugh often, long and loud. Laugh until you gasp for breath. And if you have a friend who makes you laugh, spend lots and lots of time with them”.—unknown
 
Realcatholicgk said:
Laugh often, long and loud. Laugh until you gasp for breath. And if you have a friend who makes you laugh, spend lots and lots of time with them".—unknown
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**Well - UNKNOWN how to do so ?
Or unknown how you managed to do so - once upon a time ?
😃 :confused: 😃 :confused:
**
 
Saint Philip Neri was noted for his use of humor:
Humility was the most important virtue he tried to teach others and to learn himself. Some of his lessons in humility seem cruel, but they were tinged with humor like practical jokes and were related with gratitude by the people they helped. His lessons always seem to be tailored directly to what the person needed. One member who was later to become a cardinal was too serious and so Philip had him sing the Misere at a wedding breakfast. When one priest gave a beautiful sermon, Philip ordered him to give the same sermon six times in a row so people would think he only had one sermon.
Philip preferred spiritual mortification to physical mortification. When one man asked Philip if he could wear a hair shirt, Philip gave him permission – if he wore the hair shirt outside his clothes! The man obeyed and found humility in the jokes and name-calling he received.
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The little boy was crying his eyes out in Sunday School, and the teacher ran over to him, saying, “Oh, Johnny, what’s the matter/” Between gulping sobs, Johnny told her, “I have been praying and praying for a bicycle, but Jesus won’t give me a bicycle. Every night I pray for a bicycle, and every morning there is no bicycle.”

The teacher didn’t know what to say, so she said, “Oh Johnny, but that’s not really how Jesus works. Jesus doesn’t make bicycles magically appear. Jesus forgives us of our sins when we ask him to,” and just then the parents began to arrive to pick up the kids, so she was unable to finish her thought. Johnny’s mother came for him, and the teacher thought how poor she looked and how sad it was for Johnny that his mother could not buy him a bicycle.

The next week, she was amazed to see Johnny arrive at Sunday School on his brand new red cross country 12-speed bike with racing stripes and lights, and carry-on pouches, and a water bottle, and everything. “My goodness, Johnny, look at you on that bike!” she exclaimed. Johnny said, “And it’s all thanks to you, Teacher, for I did just as you said!!” The teacher was confused, and she about to ask “What did I say?” but he rushed on and said, “I did just what you said. I asked Jesus to forgive me, for stealing the bike!!”
 
**Bubba wanted me to tell you this one! One day Bubba was bragging to his boss, " I was just thinking, do you know, I know everyone there is to know. Just name someone, anyone, and I know them."
Code: 
  Tired of his boasting, his boss called his bluff, "OK, Bubba, I bet you $500 you don't know Tom Cruise?" 
   
  "Sure, Tom and I are old friends, and I can prove it." Bubba started to dial a number, The Boss said" I am not falling for any tricks, lets go, and they head for the airport!"
   
 As Bubba and his boss go to the airport, all along the way every one says "Hi Bubba!" When they get on the plane the pilot says. "Where are you going Bubba?" The boss gets worried! They fly out to Hollywood and knock on Tom Cruise's door and sure enough, Tom Cruise shouts, "Bubba! Great to see you! 
   
  You and your friend come right in and join me for lunch!" 
   
  Although impressed, Bubba's boss is still skeptical. After they leave Cruise's house, he pays Bubba his $500. He tells Bubba that he thinks Bubba's knowing Cruise was just lucky. 
   
  "No, no, just name anyone else," Bubba says. 
   
  "President Obama," his boss quickly retorts. "Yes," Bubba says, "I know him, Want to bet $1,000? If so, let's fly out to Washington." And off they go. 
   
  At the White House, Obama spots Bubba on the tour and motions him and his boss over, saying, "Bubba, what a surprise, I was just on my way to a meeting, but you and your friend come on in and let's have a cup of coffee first and catch up." 
   
  Well, the boss is very shaken by now but still not totally convinced. 
   
  After they leave the White House grounds he paid the $1,000. He expresses his doubts to Bubba. Bubba you can't know everyone in the world that is impossible! Bubba thought and said "I am sure that I know everyone!"  He implores his boss to name anyone else. "The Pope," his boss replies. 
   
  "Sure!" says Bubba. "My folks are from Germany, and I've known the Pope a long time." I will bet you $5,000!" The boss accepts so off they fly to Rome. 
   
 Bubba and his boss are assembled with the masses in Vatican Square when Bubba says, "This will never work. I can't catch the Pope's eye among all these people. Tell you what, I know all the guards so let me just go upstairs and I'll come out on the balcony with the Pope." And he disappears into the crowd headed toward the Vatican. 
   
  Sure enough, half an hour later Bubba emerges with the Pope on the balcony. He looks down and sees his boss laying on the ground surrounded by paramedics and a young Italian boy! Working his way to his boss' side, Bubba asks him, "What happened?" His boss looks up and says, "I was doing fine until you and the Pope came out on the balcony and that little boy standing next to me said, "Who the heck's that up on the balcony with Bubba?"
http://i35.tinypic.com/2emzvon.jpg http://i35.tinypic.com/2emzvon.jpg http://i35.tinypic.com/2emzvon.jpg http://i35.tinypic.com/2emzvon.jpghttp://i35.tinypic.com/2emzvon.jpg

God Bless

**
 
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