In my family there has always been a great use of humor. We make puns and jokes and enjoy numerous pranks.
One of our family jokes has to do with the aftermath of meals. With five young children, a table that is too small, and a severely handicapped child who needs to be fed, the debris field beneath the table after meals is a job for a SWAT team in full riot gear or the National Guard. When they are done we call in the local fire department to hose everything down. Failing that, we just drive a Zamboni through the dining room. "Hey, Joe! Your turn to zamboni the dining room."
"I've heard of the multiplication of the loaves, but this is ridiculous."
We also like to joke (always with great interior reverence for The Word of God) about about the passage in The Gospel according to St. Matthew, chapter 15:
[21] Then Jesus went thence, and departed into the coasts of Tyre and Sidon.
[22] And, behold, a woman of Canaan came out of the same coasts, and cried unto him, saying, Have mercy on me, O Lord, thou Son of David; my daughter is grievously vexed with a devil.
[23] But he answered her not a word. And his disciples came and besought him, saying, Send her away; for she crieth after us.
[24] But he answered and said, I am not sent but unto the lost sheep of the house of Israel.
[25] Then came she and worshipped him, saying, Lord, help me.
[26] But he answered and said, It is not meet to take the children's bread, and to cast it to dogs.
[27] And she said, Truth, Lord: yet the dogs eat of the crumbs which fall from their masters' table.
[28] Then Jesus answered and said unto her, O woman, great is thy faith: be it unto thee even as thou wilt. And her daughter was made whole from that very hour.
If said dog lived beneath our table, he'd look like this:.
Well, today I was hard at it in between meals, muttering to myself trying to maintain my waning patience, and I kind of said to myself, "Well that should be clean enough for the next round of chaos." Then I had a thought shoot thrugh my mind : "What if Jesus thought like that at Mass or after our Confession? What if He took the cynical attitude that He had just cleaned up after us and the next week would bring a whole new load of sins that He would have to clean up again?" Suddenly that fat dog wasn't quite as funny any more.
I am always after my family telling them that we at least have to TRY to not make such a disaster. Yes, the thought is worth some pondering because our good effort is not only necessary in spite of the infinite Mercy of God, but precisely BECAUSE of it. Otherwise we risk the sin of presumption.
I remember having commited a serious sin one day and was looking for some consolation. Having prayed mentally to St. Padre Pio, I opened a wonderful biography about him (by Bernard Ruffin) and asked, "Padre Pio, do you have some word for me?" I looked down at the page and read "That was a useless effort". If we want to hear the words "Well done, good and faithful servant", we will first have to fight the good fight --- and in some manner win. Yes, Christ has already won the battle, but we must also carry the cross.
While helping with diaper changes and daily chores that young children bring, I have often pondered how this fits in to God's plan of salvation for us. Little children too will ask innocently about why we have to use the toilet daily and about what happens to our food when we eat it. A bit of simple thought about the whole cycle --from the seeds in the garden soil to the vegetables on the table and back to the waste pit-- can either produce a cynical hopelessness, or great joy at the wonder of God's great love for us.
This is a wonderful moment to remember Jesus's first miracle, the changing of water into wine --water representing death then becoming joyful life, a prefigurement of the Ressurection-- and His last miracle, the changing of bread and wine into His body and blood. I explain to my children the immense beauty in the words Jesus says, in John 6; 53 -58, that "unless you eat my body and drink my blood, you have no life within you". I get goose bumps when I think of the great love of Jesus when he says in Luke 22:15 "I have earnestly desired to eat this Passover meal with you before I suffer"
Just as the disciples cleaned up 12 baskets full of food after the multiplication of the loaves, we also must not waste the graces of God. God is not like some haughty, proud billionaire who might say: "I just gave you a million bucks. Don't bother with the loose change."
That fat dog under the table represents two things: It represents God's infinite mercy, and it represents our manifold sins and wickedness. Jesus fed the five thousand with five loaves and two fish. He does not need much from us, but he does need a few crumbs of effort. Perhaps even a mustard seed would do.
One of our family jokes has to do with the aftermath of meals. With five young children, a table that is too small, and a severely handicapped child who needs to be fed, the debris field beneath the table after meals is a job for a SWAT team in full riot gear or the National Guard. When they are done we call in the local fire department to hose everything down. Failing that, we just drive a Zamboni through the dining room. "Hey, Joe! Your turn to zamboni the dining room."
"I've heard of the multiplication of the loaves, but this is ridiculous."
We also like to joke (always with great interior reverence for The Word of God) about about the passage in The Gospel according to St. Matthew, chapter 15:
[21] Then Jesus went thence, and departed into the coasts of Tyre and Sidon.
[22] And, behold, a woman of Canaan came out of the same coasts, and cried unto him, saying, Have mercy on me, O Lord, thou Son of David; my daughter is grievously vexed with a devil.
[23] But he answered her not a word. And his disciples came and besought him, saying, Send her away; for she crieth after us.
[24] But he answered and said, I am not sent but unto the lost sheep of the house of Israel.
[25] Then came she and worshipped him, saying, Lord, help me.
[26] But he answered and said, It is not meet to take the children's bread, and to cast it to dogs.
[27] And she said, Truth, Lord: yet the dogs eat of the crumbs which fall from their masters' table.
[28] Then Jesus answered and said unto her, O woman, great is thy faith: be it unto thee even as thou wilt. And her daughter was made whole from that very hour.
If said dog lived beneath our table, he'd look like this:.
Well, today I was hard at it in between meals, muttering to myself trying to maintain my waning patience, and I kind of said to myself, "Well that should be clean enough for the next round of chaos." Then I had a thought shoot thrugh my mind : "What if Jesus thought like that at Mass or after our Confession? What if He took the cynical attitude that He had just cleaned up after us and the next week would bring a whole new load of sins that He would have to clean up again?" Suddenly that fat dog wasn't quite as funny any more.
I am always after my family telling them that we at least have to TRY to not make such a disaster. Yes, the thought is worth some pondering because our good effort is not only necessary in spite of the infinite Mercy of God, but precisely BECAUSE of it. Otherwise we risk the sin of presumption.
I remember having commited a serious sin one day and was looking for some consolation. Having prayed mentally to St. Padre Pio, I opened a wonderful biography about him (by Bernard Ruffin) and asked, "Padre Pio, do you have some word for me?" I looked down at the page and read "That was a useless effort". If we want to hear the words "Well done, good and faithful servant", we will first have to fight the good fight --- and in some manner win. Yes, Christ has already won the battle, but we must also carry the cross.
While helping with diaper changes and daily chores that young children bring, I have often pondered how this fits in to God's plan of salvation for us. Little children too will ask innocently about why we have to use the toilet daily and about what happens to our food when we eat it. A bit of simple thought about the whole cycle --from the seeds in the garden soil to the vegetables on the table and back to the waste pit-- can either produce a cynical hopelessness, or great joy at the wonder of God's great love for us.
This is a wonderful moment to remember Jesus's first miracle, the changing of water into wine --water representing death then becoming joyful life, a prefigurement of the Ressurection-- and His last miracle, the changing of bread and wine into His body and blood. I explain to my children the immense beauty in the words Jesus says, in John 6; 53 -58, that "unless you eat my body and drink my blood, you have no life within you". I get goose bumps when I think of the great love of Jesus when he says in Luke 22:15 "I have earnestly desired to eat this Passover meal with you before I suffer"
Just as the disciples cleaned up 12 baskets full of food after the multiplication of the loaves, we also must not waste the graces of God. God is not like some haughty, proud billionaire who might say: "I just gave you a million bucks. Don't bother with the loose change."
That fat dog under the table represents two things: It represents God's infinite mercy, and it represents our manifold sins and wickedness. Jesus fed the five thousand with five loaves and two fish. He does not need much from us, but he does need a few crumbs of effort. Perhaps even a mustard seed would do.
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