Liming with Jesus

By Michael Merritt, parish of St Charles Borromeo, Tunapuna

In 2020, we celebrated Easter in a way we could never have thought. Now, in a new Church year, I am reminded of the lyrics of an old hymn, ‘What a friend we have in Jesus’. We can cry on His shoulder, give Him all our burdens and grief, and share all our sorrows.

We can also pray about (share) our frustrations, what we don’t like, what we do like, what we want to say thank you for, what worries us and what’s most important to us right now.

Based on the way many of us pray, God seems really boring and serious. Most of what we know is that Jesus was born, suffered, died, and rose again in glory. Is being a Catholic boring?

When we say ‘God is awesome’ is it in the sense of a powerful person or a friend I have, that you just have to meet?

If Jesus were not God, I wondered how He would feel about this type of relationship? Do we only remember our friend in the bad times and exclude Him in the good?

The Incarnation and Nativity story reminds us that Jesus, the second person in the blessed Trinity is fully human, in mind, body, and soul but also divine.  I was taught that as a human, Jesus was like us in all things but sin.

I hope it is not heretical, but Jesus seems to be like an ordinary person, someone you can ‘lime’ with. For 30 years of His life, He lived with artisans, carpenters, fishermen etc, went to weddings with His mom. Could He crack a joke and enjoy an amusing situation?

Growing up as an altar server, I was shocked the first time I heard Fr Gabriel Julien make a joke in the sanctuary. We did not know how to react; we believed that it would have been sacrilegious to crack a smile.

Jesus came to teach us how to live. So, is Jesus fun to hang out with? For some reason sinners invited Him out to have dinner and be their friend. In fact, some people wrongfully thought that Jesus was a party animal.

God created the beauty, awe and wonder of nature. God designed us in His image and likeness and wants us to have life to the fullest. This includes all the things that He inspired such as multimedia and music.

In Philippians 4:8, we are reminded to contemplate whatever is true, whatever is honourable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise.

In Ecclesiastes 2:24 we are told, “There is nothing better for a person than that he should eat and drink and find enjoyment in his toil. This also, I saw, is from the hand of God.”

I have found passages in the Bible where Jesus seems to use sarcasm, exaggeration and other forms of humour, with a twinkle in His eye to teach us valuable lessons.

I may not be able to prove it because humour depends on cultural interpretation and may be lost in translation. But I believe that a God who loves me, wants me to have a full life and invites me to share in joy, has to be funny and a friend I would want to share in my fun. Do not forget to invite Him to the party.