Jokes during Mass?

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There’s joking and tgere’s joking. Mind you sometimes it’s irresistible.

Once I was at a daily Mass. There was no music, so the congregation were meant to recite an entrance antiphon.

One lady who had what can only be described as a booming voice started reciting the Communion antiphon for that day rather than the Entrance antiphon. We could all tell what the mistake was as we all were provided with missalettes.

When the priest reached the altar he simply smiled and said ‘well, that was the shortest Mass I’ve ever said!’ 🙂
 
LilyM said:
There’s joking and tgere’s joking. Mind you sometimes it’s irresistible.

Once I was at a daily Mass. There was no music, so the congregation were meant to recite an entrance antiphon.

One lady who had what can only be described as a booming voice started reciting the Communion antiphon for that day rather than the Entrance antiphon. We could all tell what the mistake was as we all were provided with missalettes.

When the priest reached the altar he simply smiled and said ‘well, that was the shortest Mass I’ve ever said!’ 🙂
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:rotfl::rotfl:
 
Phemie said:
It’s one thing during the homily but there are priests who just don’t seem to have any sense of decorum when it comes to these things.

Two come to mind right off the bat:

Our former Pastor who, as he was kneeling to wash feet on Holy Thursday, joked that if he’d known whose feet he’d be washing he’d have used ice water.

The Administrator who never genuflects during Mass. The Sunday after the new bishop’s visit, he genuflected at the Consecration of the bread, stopped, looked at the congregation and said, with a big grin, “Make sure to tell the Bishop”, provoking laughter between the Consecration of the bread and that of the wine. The same one who joked that if he wore a pink chasuble on Gaudete Sunday “Well, you know what people would say…”
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Yes, some people seem to lack a sense of tact. 😦
 
For those of you whose priests tell jokes and manage to really lay an egg with them, consider yourselves fortunate. It’s summertime here, and that means that my pastor will, on every single Sunday, try to work in something about his round of golf the previous week into the homily. Makes me just wish he’d get to the point already (most times, there isn’t one that I can discern,) and start the Creed!🤷

However, at the church near my job where I frequently attend weekday Mass after work, one of the priests does have a gift for humor. I had overslept the first Sunday of Advent, and went there for the 5 PM “last chance” Mass last year. If you’ll recall, it was the weekend we made The Big Switcheroo to the Revised Roman Missal. We struggled over “consubstantial,” and there were a lot of “and also with your spirit toos” going on, but everyone was really trying to get it right.

Just before giving the dismissal, the priest interjected, “You know, I can just picture God looking down on this land today, and saying, ‘Oh, look at all My kids! Aren’t they cute when they’re trying so hard to be good?’”

Now that was both sweet and genuinely funny!

Humor used in a homily requires a real gift for delivery and making sure it somehow relates to everything else. It’s like a good seasoning, sparks up a dish if it’s used right, but is an affrontery to the palate if overused, or inappropriately used. Not everyone has a gift for using it well, and they should be humble enough and self-aware enough to recognize it if they don’t. I’d personally prefer Father Drone-On-and-On to Father Trying-to-hard-to-be-funny-but-flopping-miserably any day!
 
There is a chapel where I went to Sunday Mass many times, and I had to stop going because of the obligatory joke that the priest would tell after the homily. Here is the reason: Sometimes you could not tell if the priest’s story was a segue into a story related to the homily, or the beginning of a joke. And most of the time, these were very obvious jokes, not one-off things that are humorous in context of what is being said, such as “There was a doctor who was serving the missionaries of the native tribes in Zimbabwe” or some such nonsense. It got to where I could not tell if we were at the end of a homily and the obligatory joke had started. Was he telling another story about another friend that relates to the message in the scriptures, or should be bracing myself for the punchline?

Also, I always felt so irreverent going into the offertory after everyone had laughed, and the priest had sat there and soaked up the laughter before moving on to the rest of Mass. It was that smug little smirk he had as everyone reacted to his joke that used to rub me the wrong way. It always smacked of selfishness and pride, wanting to have just a little moment of vainglory before moving on to tasks that take the attention away from himself (i.e. the rest of Mass).

That being said, sometimes a laugh in a homily can be very memorable and not only acceptable but sometimes even an integral part of the message. Here’s three laughs in sermons that are very memorable to me, and I don’t think the homilies would have had the kind of impact that they did without the laughs that accompanied the messages. I also don’t feel like these priests are using the humor at all to bring attention to themselves, but instead to simply make a point within their message in a humorous way. If you listen past the laughs, you will hear solid, traditional Catholic homilies by priests who take their vocation as shepherds and caretakers of their parishioner’s souls very seriously.
 
HonoraDominum said:
. . . and the priest had sat there and soaked up the laughter before moving on to the rest of Mass. It was that smug little smirk he had as everyone reacted to his joke that used to rub me the wrong way. It always smacked of selfishness and pride, wanting to have just a little moment of vainglory before moving on to tasks that take the attention away from himself (i.e. the rest of Mass).
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Almost smacks of sour grapes. But then, ever since the fall don’t we all more often than not fail to recognize anothers hidden motivations?
 
I have no problem with humor during the homily, announcements, or really any time, as long as it is not tasteless. By tasteless, I mean not in accord to my taste. Yes, the Eucharist is serious and we have our focus on Calvary. Even at that, our focus can drift, mine more than most. I think most people really have a good feel for the solemnity of the moment and humor should never be force at a solemn moment.
 
Fan_of_Trent said:
Almost on a weekly basis, the ordinary form of Sunday Mass at my local Church includes jokes from the Priest that have absolutely nothing to do with the Mass, the sermon, readings etc. I couldn’t find that in the rubrics… though I do find it rather inappropriate. Is this commonplace elsewhere?

Deo Gratias
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Sadly,yes.There are times when I feel as though I am at a comedy club,watching a stand up routine:(
 
QUOTE=zab;9486147]I think there is nothing wrong with a bit of humor to get the attention or keep the attention of the listeners.

:eek::eek::eek:
 
Stylites said:
Almost smacks of sour grapes. But then, ever since the fall don’t we all more often than not fail to recognize anothers hidden motivations?
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Sour grapes? How so? Are you implying that I am envious of the attention that the priest was getting? Or envious of his ability to tell jokes maybe? I’m confused.
 
O Lord of Light and Levity,
Lord God of Grace and Gravity,
Lord God of Hosts and Humor,

hear my prayer:

If Mass is heaven on earth,
let us pray that heaven is not filled
with chortle-challenged cherubs,
agelastic angels, and sad-faced saints,

but with a guffawing God,
a joyous Jesus,
and a hilarious Holy Spirit,

as well as many smiling souls.

Amen.
 
Rejoice_Always said:
O Lord of Light and Levity,
Lord God of Grace and Gravity,
Lord God of Hosts and Humor,

hear my prayer:

If Mass is heaven on earth,
let us pray that heaven is not filled
with chortle-challenged cherubs,
agelastic angels, and sad-faced saints,

but with a guffawing God,
a joyous Jesus,
and a hilarious Holy Spirit,

as well as many smiling souls.

Amen.
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Amen!
 
superamazingman said:
We should tell jokes during funerals then too? Sometimes there is inappropriate times for jokes, and the Mass is one of them.
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Yes, we should. Or at least I liked the one that was alluded to during my father’s funeral.

Do you think we should wear hair shirts and moan and groan while we are mourning? Are we not supposed to smile or laugh? The one time in my life that I needed to smile and laugh was after my parents died.
 
Fan_of_Trent said:
Almost on a weekly basis, the ordinary form of Sunday Mass at my local Church includes jokes from the Priest that have absolutely nothing to do with the Mass, the sermon, readings etc. I couldn’t find that in the rubrics… though I do find it rather inappropriate. Is this commonplace elsewhere?
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I am most amused by the idea of a Joke Rubric.
Stylites said:
A starter joke during the homily is not inappropriate, and can lead into the topic which the priest wishes to teach about, or not.
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There’s nothing wrong with utilizing humour during preaching, but I am very much against the idea of the formulaic “starter joke”. I’d much rather see a dash of levity in the middle of the sermon, fully integrated with the content.
 
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