Dear Friends,

Jesus said: Father, Lord of heaven and earth! I thank you because you have shown to the unlearned what you have hidden from the wise and learned.

Jesus seemed to some to be a clown, a fool. He made fun of the money- mad society and told them that the birds in the air had more sense than they, laughed at the fashion parade and told them that not even Solomon looked as good as a simple flower. His message must have seemed foolish…that not a hair fell from their head without the Father knowing, when everyone knew that the Almighty was too concerned with running the universe to get involved in this way. Jesus, the fool mocked by Herod, laughed at by the soldiers…the clown who forgave others from the cross.

And those who follow Jesus must also seem foolish. Poor Paul with all his education, going from town to town telling people about a God who suffered that men could live…being laughed at by the clever men of Athens who asked him to come back again so that they could have another good laugh. Poor Paul, escaping in a basket because those who wanted to make him a basket case had vowed to stop his Gospel preaching.

Yes, I am a fool, he told them and you are so wise, so clever. Yet, he explains, God has shown that this world’s wisdom is foolishness…God decided to save those who believe, by means of the foolish message we preach. As for us, we proclaim Christ crucified and for all who will listen, both Jews and Gentiles, Christ is the power of God and the wisdom of God. For what seems to be God’s weakness is stronger than men’s strength.

Those of us who believe in Jesus are asked to walk in the footsteps of Christ the clown, to be willing to be laughed at for loving without counting the cost when wise men play it safe, to be willing to be laughed at so that we can free others to really laugh from within. It does seem like nonsense to stand up for truth, when others have made truth the lie they prefer to believe; stupid to be honest, when everybody knows that all that matters is not getting caught; stupid to really care, when worldly wisdom says nothing can be done.

A clown is really very clever. He knows that by letting people laugh at him, they can learn not to take themselves too seriously. The clown first of all knows how to laugh at himself. Some years back, the wonderful Pope John XXIII could look at himself dressed in robes and laugh, a good belly laugh, at the foolishness of it all. Because he could laugh, was willing to be foolish, he freed others to drop the pompous masks they wore. He freed others to see that they were not the clothes they wore, the important jobs they held. And when he laughed, they even began to believe that they were children of God.

Peace,

Father Jerry