From Safari…
Christ is Risen! Indeed He is Risen! Day 15 of Easter.
Each month on the second Wednesday there is an ecumenical prayer service for the residents at Country Manor. (Mass is offered on the other Wednesdays of the month.) I have joined the Country Manor Chaplains for this service. (Services are still limited to residents only.) At last week’s service, Deacon Ken Rosha mentioned the tradition of laughter at Easter.
Multiple sources mention a practice called Risus Paschalis or Easter Laugh. Early orthodox communities began a tradition of gathering on the Monday following Resurrection Sunday (This past Sunday the Orthodox celebrated Easter.) to tell jokes as a way of marking Easter as the ultimate joke God played on Satan by defeating death with life. Some churches observe the Easter Laugh by including jokes or humorous anecdotes in their Easter Sunday homilies.
Others emphasize laughter on the second Sunday of Easter, sometimes called Holy Humor or Hilarity Sunday.
Another source states that in late medieval Europe, priests provoked the laughter of their congregations on Easter Day by telling jokes and putting on slapstick comedic performances. Preachers often spiced up things by pitting husbands and wives against each other. In keeping with my reference to Ripley’s Believe It or Not this past weekend --- Believe It or Not. Perhaps last weekend nature attempted to bring a laugh by having winter make a curtain call. Perhaps the following will bring you a little laughter.
Several years ago, The Washington Post’s “Mensa Invitational” once again invited readers to take any word from the dictionary, alter it by adding, subtracting or changing one letter, and supply a new definition. Here are a few of the entries: Intaxicaton (n.): Euphoria at getting a tax refund, which lasts until you realize it was your money to start with. Bozone (n.): The substance surrounding stupid people that stops bright ideas from penetrating. The Bozone layer, unfortunately, shows little sign of breaking down in the near future. Giraffiti (n.): Vandalism spray-painted very, very high. Inoculatte (v.): To take coffee intravenously when
you are running late. Decafalon (n.): The grueling event of getting through the day consuming only things that are good for you.
Dopeler Effect (n.): The tendency of stupid ideas to seem smarter when they come at you rapidly.
Arachnoleptic Fit (n.): The frantic dance performed just after you’ve accidentally walked through a spider web. (May 2014, Celebration, p.26, The National Catholic
Reporter Publishing Company, Kansas City, MO)
Have a blessed week. May God sprinkle your days with laughter!
Fr. Ron
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