awww I guess we will all be like baby Nathan when we see the Light of heaven for the first time and cry out, ' I never knew! I never knew ! I never knew! Oh Lord I never knew!!!' Revelation 21:4 He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death' or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away."
Josephite, I have done my best searching through Saint Pauls letters to the Churches and come up with one where he mentions a humorous solution to an argument about circumcision. There must be more, since I notice in my search he mentions the topic in more than one letter. My Bible is The Jerusalem Bible Popular Edition. I notice editions published by Darton, Longman and Todd are not allowed to be sold in USA, Canada or Philippine Republic. However there must be similar translation in what ever Bible you use. The Bible quote is Letter to the Galatians, Chapter 5. Under the sub heading 'Exhortation' The topic is Christian Liberty; and the verse is the last line which is verse 12. "Tell those who are disturbing you I would like to see the knife slip." As we mentioned this is referring to people who are arguing about circumcision.
I don't know about other peoples sense of humour; but I would like to share with you from the story of Balaam's donkey. My Bible is The Jerusalem Bible Popular Edition. I notice editions published by Darton, Longman and Todd are not allowed to be sold in USA, Canada or Philippine Republic. Apparantly it is published by Doubleday & Co New York. In the Book of Numbers Chapter 22. Verses 22 to 35. In a nutshell the donkey would not go forward and Balaam beat his donkey three times. Then the donkey spoke to Balaam asking why he was beating him. Then the prophet saw the Angel who was blocking the donkey from moving forward. I hope Heaven saw the funny side to this, or I've got some serious spiritual deficiencies.
Here's another little one from Proverbs Chapter 15 Verse 13. Glad heart makes happy face. Where the heart is sad, the spirit is broken.
I don' know if I always have a happy face but I think my heart is happy, praise God. I feel a joy inside that is different to most other peoples joy, I think . I have been accused of smiling a lot, often to other peoples dismay or chagrin!! About the donkey story, I once heard that a saint who was questioned about the real presence of Our Lord in the Blessed Eucharist, placed the Blessed Eucharist in front of a hungry donkey to demonstrate that even a dumb animal knows the Blessed Eucharist is God and the Hungry donkey walked up to the Blessed Eucharist and then knelt in adoration!! Donkeys can teach us a lot!!
I think the saint you are referring to is our dear Saint Anthony of Padua. Another favourite which I think has a funny side is when Saint Anthony decided he was going to use his wonderful intelligence to get to the bottom of the mystery of the Blessed Trinity. The story goes, he was walking along the sand by the edge of the sea, in deep contemplation when he noticed a little boy who had dug a hole in the sand and he was running over to the water, filling his little bucket and carrying it back to fill the hole with water. Saint Anthony saw how the little boy laboured, and when he reached him, asked the little boy what he was doing. The little boy answered. "You see that sea out there" "Yes," said Saint Anthony. And the little boy said " You see the hole I have made in the sand" "Yes" said the saint. Well, I am going to put all that water in the hole in the sand. "Oh my dear child" said the saint. "That is impossible." To which the little boy replied. "Well, it would be easier for me to fill the hole in the sand with all that water, than it would be for you to understand the mystery of the Blessed Trinity." At which point the saint realised the little boy was the little Jesus. We see Baby Jesus standing on the book Saint Anthony holds in the statues and pictures of this wonderful saint. Or so we were told as children.
