As everyone knows - the shortest verse in the Bible is "Jesus wept".  Unfortunately we don't have a similarly succinct verse which says "Jesus laughed" - but I'm sure that He did on very many occasions.  Laughter is extremely important to us as human beings and has the power to connect us to one another and to transform us.  Laughter is infectious.  Yet when we emphasise Jesus' humanity we tend to talk about His vulnerability and being "a Man of Sorrows".  We know that Jesus got tired and hungry, thirsty and weepy.  But when have you ever heard someone say, "Jesus knew how to enjoy a good laugh"?  Despite the importance of laughter in our lives, we hear almost nothing about it in Christian teaching, and sometimes it is positively forbidden and discouraged.  How wrong can we be?  That great Christian preacher St. John Chrysostom said way back in the fourth century - "Christ never laughed" - poppycock!  Others including Jerome, Augustine and Benedict all thought that it was indecent to laugh - nonsense!  A bit of laughter is helpful in stopping religious people taking themselves too seriously.  Only the most dictatorial systems ban comedy because they cannot bear the truth that comedy reveals which is that none of us have absolute truth or absolute power - except God alone.  It is said that Adolf Hitler placed Charlie Chaplain on the most wanted list because of his caricature of him in the film The Great Dictator.  Dictators cannot risk being laughed at because laughter is the great leveller.  Thank God for the cartoonists who lampoon our politicians and bring them down to size.  Bring back the medieval Feast of Fools, which, once a year, poked fun at the bishops and the clergy.
 

 ALL GAS AND GAITERS

At Christmas time I was fortunate enough to receive videos of the only surviving eleven episodes of that splendid television comedy series of the late sixties and early seventies - All Gas and Gaiters -how I enjoyed seeing again and laughing at the senior clergy of St. Ogg's cathedral - Robertson Hare, as the Archdeacon, William Mervyn, as the Bishop, John Barron as the Dean, and Derek Nimmo as Noote, the Bishop's Chaplain.   The very first episode was a pilot in the COMEDY PLAYHOUSE series - a large legacy to the cathedral fabric fund all depended upon the Bishop, as successor to Blessed St. Ogg, being able to distribute forty pairs of stockings to chaste maids.  Alas, "chaste maids" proved to be few and far between - however, the day was saved - thanks to a convent of nuns visiting the cathedral!
 

FATHER TED

But my favourite religious comedy of all time has got to be the splendid Father Ted.  Father Ted's unfulfilled hopes and con-stant struggles against temptat-ion led him into many comic and surreal situations.  Craggy Island was one of the most desolate and remote parishes in the whole diocese and Father Ted Crilly was banished there to live out his ministry far away from the bright lights and the glamour which he yearned for.  Yet he was not alone and was one of a trinity of priests who sought to serve and minister to their parishioners on their island parish off the west coast of Ireland.
 

FATHER DOUGAL

Dougal must surely be one of the dimmest curates in Christendom.  There is something of the idiot savant about him, a kind of Forrest Gump in a dog collar.  His naivety would often lead him to point out the obvious truth in any given situation as he unwittingly exposed the masks and pretences we so often choose to disguise ourselves with.  We all need the ministry of the 'holy fool'.
 

FATHER JACK

The monosyllabic Jack is a lesson to us all on the destructive nature of the demon drink.  Never sober, he often resorted to violence, to gain his tipple.  He cares naught for authority and is in every respect a monster as he shouts out for Drink! Drink! Drink!
 

MRS.  DOYLE

Her sole aim in life, as housekeeper at Craggy Island Presbytery, is to provide hospitality to the priests in her charge and to all those who visit the Parochial House.  Who can resist her offer of a cup of tea?  Any hesitancy is soon worn down with a persistent - 'G'wan, g'wan, g'wan, g'wan' until the helpless victim succumbs to the proffered cup of tea or to a mountain of sandwiches.  Hospitality should be a hallmark of all who follow Christ.
 

Humour is very important in life.  A religion without humour is seriously in want.  We all need humour, we all need to laugh at ourselves and not take ourselves too seriously.  For, at the heart of all humour lies truth.  Certainly, the One whom God raised from the dead and who described Himself as - "The Way, the Truth and the Life" - used humour in His ministry to point to the truth of certain situations and to tear down many a façade and to remove many a mask.  I am sure that in the Lord's company the disciples often rocked with laughter at some of the things He said about camels going through the eye of a needle, about the pious being whited sepulchres and about one sword being sufficient to overthrow the might of Imperial Rome.  A humourless Lord is an invention.  The Risen Lord brings laughter, fun, gaiety and much joy to life.  Those who serve Him must also display that same resurrection joy and enjoy a jolly good laugh.

                                      HAVE FUN,

                                      Father David