Saintly Humor

[Biblioassistant]

St. John of the Cross was a very short man, and one day when he and his traveling companion (a very tall man) came to see St. Teresa of Avila she said “Brother John and his friend are here, now we have a monk and a half”

I love St. Teresa! She was that rarest of creatures, a practical mystic with a sense of humor.

 

[MarieVeronica]

I don’t know how I forgot this one… but I always thought it was really funny… that Our dear Lord nicknamed St. James and St. John… “Boanerges”… that is, “Sons of Thunder”. (Mark 3:17)

Apparently, this was due to the fact that the sons of Zebedee had thunderous tempers/personalities? lol.

Don’t ever tell me that Our dear Lord DOESN’T have a sense of humor!

 

[beckycmarie]

Well this isn’t saintly, but here goes.

Hubs went to the advent confession (they didn’t bother with the penance service - instead had a whole bunch of priests there for confessions from start to finish.)

The glass front doors of the Church were locked with a sign saying to go in through the side door. There were probably 100 people waiting for Confession, so hubs spent a long time in line, watching people walk up to the doors, try each one, squint at the sign, and then walk around.

This one little girl comes running at the door full speed, and not realizing it’s locked, face-planted into the glass door.

Hubs laughed. Kinda loudly. He was the only one.

So he opens up his examination of conscience and says, “laughing at a little girl’s misfortune. . . check.”

 

[SarahR]

I seem to recall a story about St. Juniper that was pretty humorous. He was walking to a destination and had to pass through a certain town. The townspeople, aware of his reported sanctity, were very excited to see him and had gathered in anticipation. When Juniper arrived, he did not wish to be treated as a “Saint” with all the fanfare of an adoring crowd.
He noticed some nearby children playing on a seesaw, and took the place of one of the children. Up and down he went, up and down, until after quite a while, the townspeople decided he must instead be an idiot, and left him alone. Only after that did he merrily continue on his way.

 

[LilyM]

I seem to recall a story about St. Juniper that was pretty humorous. He was walking to a destination and had to pass through a certain town. The townspeople, aware of his reported sanctity, were very excited to see him and had gathered in anticipation. When Juniper arrived, he did not wish to be treated as a “Saint” with all the fanfare of an adoring crowd.
He noticed some nearby children playing on a seesaw, and took the place of one of the children. Up and down he went, up and down, until after quite a while, the townspeople decided he must instead be an idiot, and left him alone. Only after that did he merrily continue on his way.

There are all sorts of stories about St Juniper, aren’t there - and I didn’t even realise he was actually a saint, I’ve only ever known him as Brother Juniper.

 

[beckycmarie]

My mother has a devotion to St. Anthony, and when teaching CCD, she assigned her class St. Anthony for its All Saints presentation. Part of the presentation included having a student dress as St. Anthony.

Mom had all the parts of the costume, when she remembered she needed white flowers. She was driving from work to the Church and prayed to St. Anthony, “if you want us to have white flowers, you’ll have to find me some between here and the Church.”

She had just finished saying the prayer when she saw up ahead the house of the local rent-a-clown. He was out in his front yard, dressed up in full clown garb, waving with one hand, and holding white silk flowers in the other.

Mom said, “you’ve got to be kidding.” But she pulled over anyways and asked the clown if he’d loan her the flowers. He did and she returned them after the presentation.

 

[Deacon_Ed_B]

To show that God does indeed have a sense of humor please read 1 Samuel Chapters 5 and 6. Think of the position these poor people had to be in to have these casts or images made. I laughed so hard when I read this, I almost fell of my chair.
Prayers & blessings
Deacon Ed B

 

[MarieVeronica]

To show that God does indeed have a sense of humor please read 1 Samuel Chapters 5 and 6. Think of the position these poor people had to be in to have these casts or images made. I laughed so hard when I read this, I almost fell of my chair.
Prayers & blessings
Deacon Ed B

Deacon Ed… I just read it. I will never look at a tube of “Preparation H” again, without thinking of this.

 

[beckycmarie]

Ok, so I read the New International Version and didn’t get it, since they used the word “tumor.” I thought perhaps something was lost in that translation, and I went to the New American Bible.

Then I LOL’d.

 

[MarieVeronica]

Ok, so I read the New International Version and didn’t get it, since they used the word “tumor.” I thought perhaps something was lost in that translation, and I went to the New American Bible.

Then I LOL’d.

 

[Deacon_Ed_B]

Ok, so I read the New International Version and didn’t get it, since they used the word “tumor.” I thought perhaps something was lost in that translation, and I went to the New American Bible.

Then I LOL’d.

I never thought about it, but this shows that the translation does indeed make a difference.

 

[barb_finnegan]

There is a story about St. Bernadette. I’m not sure if I have the details exactly correct… but it goes something like this.

After she had lived in the convent of Nevers, for a number of years… many times people would show up asking for the “little saint” of Lourdes. Apparently, this greatly amused the humble St. Bernadette.

One day, a lady showed up and encountered Bernadette in a corridor. She asked to meet the “little saint”, not knowing she was speaking to Bernadette, herself.

With a twinkle in her eye… St. Bernadette replied “I’ll see if I can find her” and walked away, leaving the lady waiting.

My guess, is that the lady waited a long time.

I have the ‘aftermath’ of this incident…when Bernadette left, the lady kept staring in the direction of the garden gate. Then another Sister came by and asked courteously, “Can I help you, Madame?” The lady said, “Yes, I’m looking for Sister Marie-Bernard [Bernadette’s religious name]. The little Sister I just talked to-I don’t remember her name-told me to watch for her going through the garden gate.” “And didn’t the little Sister you talked to just passed through the gate?” Then the lady realized that it was Bernadette she had talked to!

I got another ‘Bernadette joke’: there was a young postulant who had entered, and she kept looking and looking for Bernadette among the other nuns (she had her own ideas of how she looked!). But she had no luck. Finally she complained to one of the senior nuns, “It’s funny-I’ve been here two days, and I haven’t seen Sister Marie-Bernard yet.” And the Sister said, indicating Bernadette (who was standing next to her), “Sister Marie-Bernard? Why, here she is.” And when the postulant saw her, she burst out with, “What? That little thing?” (Bernadette was small-4 feet, 7 inches) And Bernadette smiled, held out her hand, and said, “Yes, just ‘that little thing’, nothing more.” The postulant became one of her closest friends in the convent.

 

[barb_finnegan]

Does anyone know… is it true that St. Francis of Assisi could juggle? I’ve seen this depicted in a movie on his life.

I know that St. John Bosco could (and did). But was wondering about St. Francis of Assisi.

Maybe St. Francis juggled in his pre-conversion days…

I know that he used two sticks and made-believed he was using a violin…

 

[bpcatholic]

I remember one time in my room when I was praying for Pope John Paul II’s soul when I heard the news he had died, and I thought about who else should be Pope. My thoughts immediately went to Cardinal Ratzinger, because of his wonderful commentary on the message of Fatima and because I believed he was very close to John Paul II. I asked God to elect to Pope whoever He wanted.

Than this voice asked me, “Nicholas, who do you want to be Pope?” I replied, “Cardinal Ratzinger, because his heart is so close to John Paul II, and John Paul II is so close to the Heart of Jesus.” Than the voice said, “Because your will is in accordance to God’s, it shall be done.”

It was the weirdest moment in my life!

That reminds me of a dream I had after PopeJPII died. The dream was after the funeral and I was talking to Cardinal Ratzinger when all of sudden bells started to ring. A group of priests and cardinals then came running up and told Ratzinger he had been elected Pope.

 

[bpcatholic]

My friend once had a surpirse party for one of her friends. Well, when things seemed to be falling apart she started to pray to God and said “Please God, I know you love truth but please blind my friend from the truth just this once!” LOL

 

[bpcatholic]

I should also say the party was a success!

 

[Tybourne]

Don’t ever tell me that Our dear Lord DOESN’T have a sense of humor!

What about, “You blind guides, straining out a gnat and swallowing a camel!” (Matthew 23:24) a very funny image! And I thought my custard was lumpy!

 

[pete_29]

Don’t ever tell me that Our dear Lord DOESN’T have a sense of humor!

Aardvarks and Duckbill Platypus. 'Nuff said.

 

[beckycmarie]

Aardvarks and Duckbill Platypus. 'Nuff said.

LOL

Peter Kreeft said something similar. . . it went something like, how can you look at an aardvark or an ostrich and think God is completely serious?

 

[MarieVeronica]

lol!!! You guys are SO funny!

Hey, I alwaaaaaaaaaays felt that proof ENOUGH of Our Lords sense of humor was simply a look in the mirror! His Mercy is also quite evident; if our noses had been placed “nostrils up”… we’d all have to stay IN on rainy days!

Thank you all for the laughs. God bless.