Friday Sept. 10, 2004
Dear Friends,
What would you think if someone told you they had recently been given the gift of a cement pillow? What about a rubber ruler? How about burlap bed sheets or a lead beach ball? Well, we would smile and say, “What? That’s crazy!”
Although these images don’t produce fits of laughter, the irony of opposites is the foundation of the mysterious part of human behavior we call “humor”. Thunder and lightning is produced by the clashing of extreme opposite temperatures. Laughter is produced in somewhat the same way - like when a highly refined lady suddenly slips down a staircase or gets a cream pie in her face. The irony of opposites works every time! While we all know there’s nothing funny about accidents or humiliating people, we laugh just the same.
In the sixth chapter of Saint Luke’s Gospel, Jesus presents some images which may not be “funny”, but they are humorous or better put, “ironic”. Our Savior speaks about a blind guide, a student smarter than his teacher, and a person with a big beam of wood in his eye – ouch! He uses dramatically opposite images not to make us laugh, but listen. The Divine Physician wants to teach His disciples (you and I) about a terrible disease which can make people very sad and sick; it’s called “self-righteousness”.
This spiritual disease affects most people; curious enough it even affects religious people. What are the symptoms? First, it puffs you up so that you appear bigger than everyone else. Secondly, it makes your head imperceptibly tilt back which makes you look down your nose at others. Finally, it affects your vision – it makes you see only the surface of others and yourself (like how they look and act) together with a type of tunnel vision where you only see parts of people (like their faults and foibles).
When it’s all said and done, to be a Christian and self-righteous is not only terribly ironic, but also nothing to laugh at!
Fr. Glenn Sudano, CFR
Community Servant (superior), residing at St. Felix Friary in Yonkers
________________________________________________________________________________
www.franciscanfriars.com |
comments:
father benedict @
franciscanfriars.com |