No Jokes At Mass: Bishop Porteous

[cappie]

Jokes at the end of Mass are not appropriate, Sydney Auxiliary Bishop Julian Porteous says.

Bishop Porteous told the Sydney Morning Herald that Mass was not the venue for the priest to indulge his own personality.

"A religious ceremony, for Catholics a Mass, is a sacred event, and therefore the whole context of celebration should be one that engenders respect, appreciation of the divine and a whole sense of reverence for holy things, that is always got to be the ground in which a priest approaches his duties.

"There has been a tendency for people to feel a joke at the end of the Mass is something to leave people with a smile, but I personally don't think it is appropriate."

Preserving the dignity of the occasion should be uppermost in the mind of a priest.

"There can be place for a comment which may be a truth or insight into the foibles of humanity, but jokes, if they are corny and self serving, are inappropriate," Bishop Porteous said.

Bishop Porteous was agreeing with similar sentiments expressed by the Anglican Bishop of South Sydney, Robert Forsyth.

The Bishop of South Sydney, Robert Forsyth, says there is nothing funny in "lame-fisted attempts" to crack jokes and be funny during services and church meetings. Humour has its place, but God and church, he says, is no laughing matter.

"I am frankly sick of 'leaders' ruining the atmosphere of the meeting/service and disrupting the focus on God with half-baked comic lines," he wrote for a Sydney Anglican online ministry resource guide. "Or they detract from my reflection upon some important point made in the sermon with smart cracks or attempts to make funny comments about the preacher or the sermon."

This, he said, interfered with the congregation's relationship with God.

[url="http://www.cathnews.com/article.aspx?aeid=14310"]http://www.cathnews.com/article.aspx?aeid=14310[/url]

[TotusTuusMaria]

happens so often at my parish.

[Nihil Obstat]

Luckily we're mostly spared that at my parish. (mostly)
They're making a distinction between a joke used as a stepping stone to start the homily and a joke at the end of Mass, aren't they? What do you guys think about jokes at the start of a homily?

[TotusTuusMaria]

If I had to choose I'd rather hear it during the homily then after Mass or before or during.

[kujo]

The pastor at my home parish is famous for having a joke or a funny story that serves as an introduction into his homily. Sometimes they're funny; sometimes they are LAAMMEEE. But I think it's a good segue and they're good for the parish.

[Nihil Obstat]

Yea, more often or not the jokes are pretty lame.

[TeresaBenedicta]

Every once in a while a joke will pop up at the end of daily Mass at school. Most of the time it's when Monsignor has something to add about the saint or something he said in his homily. He's a nerd, so it's usually a nerdy joke.

[Era Might]

[quote name='cappie' post='1887352' date='Jun 9 2009, 05:50 PM']"There can be place for a comment which may be a truth or insight into the foibles of humanity, but jokes, if they are corny and self serving, are inappropriate," Bishop Porteous said.[/quote]
I just want to point out how hilariously cool it is that Bishop Porteous used the word "corny."

[musturde]

I can understand this bishop not doing this himself... but criticizing other priests? Isn't that stretching it a bit? I mean, technically, isn't laughing also a way of worship? After mass, Jesus is within us, I don't think he'd want us to reject laughter in his presence.

[eagle_eye222001]

[quote name='musturde' post='1887387' date='Jun 9 2009, 07:47 PM']I can understand this bishop not doing this himself... but criticizing other priests? Isn't that stretching it a bit? I mean, technically, isn't laughing also a way of worship? After mass, Jesus is within us, I don't think he'd want us to reject laughter in his presence.[/quote]

So it's okay to party at Mass?

[jiyoung]

Since he's a bishop, he has the right and the responsibility to direct our priests--especially when it comes to something so serious as the liturgy.

[Brother Adam]

I agree with Jiyoung. I would think jokes, once in a while, belong at the beginning of a homily, when appropriate. I would prefer to see the Mass end with a prayer to St. Michael myself. We need his protection as we are about to go back out into the world.

[MStar]

I guess I can understand not wanting to have lame jokes be at the end of Mass since it does change the focus and can ruin the "mood", but I agree with Musturde, such criticism seems unnecessary. Of course, I've never experienced a bad joke as the end of Mass; but I certainly enjoy jokes in the homilies as long as they tie into the homily in some way.

[musturde]

[quote name='eagle_eye222001' post='1887388' date='Jun 9 2009, 07:49 PM']So it's okay to party at Mass?[/quote]

Laughing and partying are two different things. However, many youth groups I've been involved in call Mass a party... so to answer your question through this view: yes! The alcohol's free too!

Edited June 10, 2009 by musturde

[Brother Adam]

Jokes are profane. Mass is sacred is likely what the bishop is getting at. Jokes and ruin the atmosphere of prayer and thanksgiving for having just received Jesus Christ in the Eucharist.