April 24, 2011 Well, I kept the annual custom alive. Last Wednesday I went into the sixth and seventh grade classrooms of our Religious Education Program. I visit our youths every year during the week before Easter to ask them to tell me jokes. They love to do it. Mostly, I hear riddles, but they make me laugh too. I hope these make you laugh!
Where was Captain Kidd’s chest buried?
Answer: With the rest of his body!
Why was the apple so sad?
Answer: Because the banana split!
What has two humps and is at the North Pole?
Answer: A lost camel.
What color is a burp?
Answer: Burple. (Oh, you could see that coming!)
Where do horses live?
Answer: In a neigh-borhood.
What do you call a short psychic who escaped from jail? Answer: A small medium at large!
What is black and white and red all over?
Answer: A zebra with a rash. (When I was a youth the answer was “a newspaper.”)
Where are pencils made?
Answer: In Pencil-vania.
I know, I know. You may have heard some of those before. They were all new to me.
Now, why is this an annual custom? Why do I go searching for these jokes every Holy Week? Actually, this is a tradition that goes back to ancient times. From the earliest centuries Christians sat around after celebrating Mass on Easter Sunday and told jokes to each other. It was their way of celebrating the central truth of our faith. By raising his Son from the dead, God played the biggest joke of all on Satan! The devil is not laughing today. Christians are! Thank you, children, for the jokes and the laughter. Thank you, Jesus, for our salvation through the cross to Resurrection! Jesus makes us laugh too!