During my theology studies at the Angelicum in Rome, Father Paul Murray, O.P. told some of us American students: "There is a young priest coming to our university. You may want to take his courses because he might be your next Fulton Sheen!" (Archbishop Fulton Sheen was one of the greatest evangelizers of the 20th century whose Emmy-winning show sometimes had the highest ratings on television).

I followed the advice and was blessed to have the future Bishop Robert Barron as a theology professor. Later, I learned that Father Murray had offered invaluable assistance to Father Barron in the creation of his Catholicism series, some episodes of which appeared on PBS. If you want to give yourself a beautiful gift during this Christmas season or any time of the year, please watch at least the first episode, which is free online. It will enrich your spirit and strengthen your faith.

It begins with a joke

The opening sequence of Catholicism shows Father Barron walking in Bethlehem as he reflects: "It all begins, really, with a joke. The essence of humor is the coming together of opposites – the meeting of incongruous things. The central claim of Christianity is that God became human. God became one of us, taking on a human nature. … St. Paul said of Jesus, 'Though he was in the form of God, he did not deem equality with God something to be grasped. Rather, he emptied himself and took the form of a slave.' The Master of the universe became, out of love, a slave – and the joke is marvelously on us."

Jesus therefore is, in a certain sense, the fulfillment of the heavenly Father's history-changing "dad joke" – the Incarnation of the Second Person of the Trinity in the womb of Mary who is then manifested in the Christmas manger. As St. John summarizes: "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. … And the Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us." (Jn. 1:1,14)

This divine "joke" is a primary reason Christmas is meant to be merry. It is why Christmas gives "Joy to the World." We are amazed at the sight of a poor teenage girl holding a helpless looking newborn who, in fact, is Almighty God! In his poem, “Sharon’s Christmas Prayer,” John Shea captures a little girl's sense of delight at this, the Eternal Father's supreme "dad joke":

…Then the baby was borned, / And do you know who he was?

Her quarter eyes inflated / To silver dollars.

The Baby was God.

And she jumped in the air

Whirled round, dove into the sofa, / And buried her head under the cushion

Which is the only proper response / to the good news of incarnation.

God and humor

"Man cannot be – without having the faculty of laughing,” said St. Thomas Aquinas in his famous Summa Theologiae. Following Aristotle, Aquinas highlights a largely undervalued human virtue with a strange sounding Greek name: eutrapelia. This is the virtue of keeping things light and being appropriately playful or witty in daily life. It is the middle ground between being a buffoon and an ultra-serious curmudgeon. As Aquinas points out, "man’s mind would break if its tension were never relaxed. [W]ords or deeds wherein nothing further is sought than the soul’s delight are called playful or humorous. Hence it is necessary at times to make use of them, in order to give rest, as it were, to the soul."

Theologians have sometimes debated as to whether there is humor in God. My own thought about this is: "Behold the platypus!" If everything ultimately comes from God – the source of all that exists – then our own sense of humor must logically be a reflection of divine humor.

Listening to comedy records as a child, it dawned on me that many of the great comedians were either Catholic or Jewish. I was interested to learn that in 1961, Catholic comedian Bob Newhart edged out singers like Frank Sinatra and Nat King Cole for the Album of the Year at the Grammy Awards. Newhart and the Jewish comic Don Rickles were close friends who traveled around the world together, along with their wives. I might be wrong…but my pet theory is that God poured out an extra dose of humor on his two "chosen peoples." Even in our own day, the hosts of all three late night comedy shows on the major networks are Catholic.

Pope Francis celebrates the gift of humor

As mentioned, the union of incongruous things is at the heart of both Christianity and much that we find funny. One of my all-time favorite comedy routines was when the impressionist Rich Little portrayed Jimmy Stewart calling a horse race. The incongruity of Stewart's constantly halting voice pattern and his urgency to identify horses passing one another on the track was sheer genius!

Apparently, Pope Francis also appreciates humor. Last June at the Vatican, he met with comedians from around the globe, including Americans Jim Gaffigan, Stephen Colbert, Jimmy Fallon, Conan O'Brien and the actress who appeared as a nun in Sister Act, Whoopi Goldberg. Gaffigan, for one, saw a humorous incongruity in the papal event: “It was all comedians, so it was like a meeting of every poorly-behaved kid from church, and they stuck them all in a room, and they thought it would be a good idea!”

The Holy Father told the group:

"In your own way, you unite people, because laughter is contagious. It is easier to laugh together than alone: joy opens us to sharing and is the best antidote to selfishness and individualism. Laughter also helps to break down social barriers, create connections among people, and allows us to express emotions and thoughts, contributing to building a shared culture and creating spaces of freedom. You remind us that homo sapiens is also homo ludens [man at play]! For playful fun and laughter are central to human life, to express ourselves, to learn, and to give meaning to situations.

"Your talent is a precious gift. Together with a smile, it spreads peace in our hearts and among others, helping us to overcome difficulties and cope with everyday stress. It helps us find relief in irony and go through life with humor. I like to pray daily – and I have done this for more than forty years – with the words of St. Thomas More: 'Grant me, O Lord, a good sense of humor.'"