I thought I would post up a thread dedicated to parts of the Bible were people maybe laughed. So if you have any ideas here's were to share them.
My own doorways to laughter would be the Joyful (of course) the Luminous and the Glorious Mysteries of the Rosary At the Wedding Feast of Cana for instance when Mary asked Jesus to change the water into wine I think Mary would have been alittle playful with Jesus. God cchanging water into wine so people could have a good time. ..and I imagine Jesus and Mary laughing at the look on the Steward's face , looking voer his shouler as he found the , 'Water' , to be the best wine he had ever tasted.
At Christmas time when the shepherds and Magi put in an pearance how Joseph and Mary must have laughed to see the awed expressions on everyones faaces in kneeling, greeting their little child.
When the two cousins Mary and Elizabeth must have laughed on meeting each otehr to find both of thm pregnant in the most impossible circumstances. What a joke God had played on them.
At the Entrance ,after His Death of Jesus entering Heaven, the Long Awaited one come to claim His Throne. How heaven must have rung with Laughter. The Joy.
The Incredible Joy of Mary and all of Heaven at her Assumption and beng greeted by her son. The embrace the laughter.
Our Lord made parables a marvelous teaching tool. I’ve always thought that Our Lord deliberately made the parable of the prodigal son very entertaining. This Parable is very detailed with many twists and turns and I believe the disciples would have been enthralled as they listened not knowing what would happen next and would have responded with laughing, gasping, shock, surprise and eventually crying at the realization of the tenderness of God’s Love. The younger son who claimed his inheritance early, living a life of debauchery but ending up as a pig caretaker would have been a hoot!
Yes, it is a great story, they did it in a brilliant way in, 'Jesus of Nazareth', it brought tears to my eyes.
I believe Our Lord would have laughed, watching Peter's excitement, as told to us by St John; Peter's rushed, grabbing of his tunic, then leaping from the boat and then swimming to shore, leaving the others to bring in the fish, as he couldn't wait to greet and embrace Jesus. John 21: 1-17 Later on, Jesus revealed himself again to the disciples. It was by the Sea of Tiberias, and it happened like this: Simon Peter, Thomas called the Twin, Nathanael from Cana in Galilee, the sons of Zebedee and two more of his disciples were together. Simon Peter said, 'I'm going fishing.' They replied, 'We'll come with you.' They went out and got into the boat but caught nothing that night. When it was already light, there stood Jesus on the shore, though the disciples did not realise that it was Jesus. Jesus called out, 'Haven't you caught anything, friends?' And when they answered, 'No,' He said, 'Throw the net out to starboard and you'll find something.' So they threw the net out and could not haul it in because of the quantity of fish. The disciple whom Jesus loved said to Peter, 'It is the Lord.' At these words, 'It is the Lord,'Simon Peter tied his outer garment round him (for he had nothing on) and jumped into the water. The other disciples came on in the boat, towing the net with the fish; they were only about a hundred yards from land. As soon as they came ashore they saw that there was some bread there and a charcoal fire with fish cooking on it. Jesus said, 'Bring some of the fish you have just caught.' Simon Peter went aboard and dragged the net ashore, full of big fish, one hundred and fifty-three of them; and in spite of there being so many the net was not broken. Jesus said to them, 'Come and have breakfast.'None of the disciples was bold enough to ask, 'Who are you?'. They knew quite well it was the Lord. Jesus then stepped forward, took the bread and gave it to them, and the same with the fish. This was the third time that Jesus revealed himself to the disciples after rising from the dead. When they had eaten, Jesus said to Simon Peter, 'Simon son of John, do you love me more than these others do?' He answered, 'Yes, Lord, you know I love you.'Jesus said to him, 'Feed my lambs.' A second time he said to him, 'Simon son of John, do you love me?' He replied, 'Yes, Lord, you know I love you.'Jesus said to him, 'Look after my sheep.' Then he said to him a third time, 'Simon son of John, do you love me?' Peter was hurt that he asked him a third time, 'Do you love me?' and said, 'Lord, you know everything; you know I love you.'Jesus said to him, 'Feed my sheep.
I would imagine that when Jesus rose Lazarus his family would have had so much joy.. when Jesus also raised the young girl..and I am most sure that when he healed the blind man that man would have been bursting with laughter and joy " I can see I can see"
The Lords great Joy at His son's [Peter's] Love and obvious need would have exploded in Our Lord with a great Joy. I know as a mother that when I see my child respond to God's Loving embrace or even a new knowledge of God that causes a positive change in my child, which can bring an awkward, human and beautiful response from my child, I sometimes am beset with holy laughter as well as tears of Joy.
I always thought Jesus must have laughed when Saint Paul told the converts who were arguing about circumcision and saint Paul said something to the effect. "Why don't you cut the whole thing off when you are at it, for all the difference it makes."
Did he really say something like that!? If so the Gospel really does have great moments of real human expressions of frustrations! with the status quo!, But always we are lead through Our Lord's teachings, to accept this seeming inequality and find Joy in it and be at peace in it. We know this inequality does not exist in heaven and we can offer up our pain here knowing that here is not the real reality! The hard thing is to explain this to the die hards who can counter our acceptance as not being progressive for the equality of all. The Lord created me as a female. He Has given me so many things to thank Him for, I have been placed on a level that is greater than my brother in many ways. In ways that are hidden, in ways that are of the humble, so I am able to concentrate my life on Him, without others knowing how privileged I am. We as women have been given God's Mother Mary to model ourselves on, so we are beyond privileged we are the spoilt child of God. Who cares that it may be slightly harder here on earth for a women, we've been given so much and it is so wonderful to be created women. Amen.
Padraig, I wonder if this thread would be the right place for me to share my guardian angel experience. I found out Heaven is full of fun and laughter, even in serious moments. What do you think.
St Peter, is a very, very loveable , human character as all our greatest Popes have been. The more like Peter is the better the Pope. Jesus made such a great choice in Peter.
Oh dear, my friend, I will have to get out the Bible and find the quote. Maybe some of the other intellectuals will save poor ould Julia the search. I'll start to look.
I love the part where the blind man says that he can see people and that, 'They look like trees'. When you think of it this is exactly the kind of thing , I think, a blind man would say. I cannot imagine the joy and laughter of a blind man....who can see. But the biggest joy of all is that of a person whose soul was blind and now is filled with light. I know. I was that man. John 8:12 Jesus the Light of the World 12Then Jesus again spoke to them, saying, "I am the Light of the world; he who follows Me will not walk in the darkness, but will have the Light of life." 13So the Pharisees said to Him, "You are testifying about Yourself; Your testimony is not true."…
