HOLY HUMOUR
What is it all about??
It's about having fun at church, not that we only do this once a year, but we
are going all out this Sunday. There will many surprises that day, unusual
songs, costumes, decorations, and fun.
When you come that Sunday, you might want to consider wearing your funniest hat,
craziest socks, wildest shirt, or whatever you think will be fun to wear to a
day celebrating that God wants us to enjoy laughter.
Here is some historical information:
April Fool’s Day started in France. In 1562,
Pope Gregory introduced a new calendar which made the first of January New
Year’s Day, instead of the first of April. Some people resisted the change and
continued to celebrate New Year’s day on April 1, as they always had. The rest
of the population called them “April Fools” and played little tricks on them
that day. One trick they played was to stick a fake fish on a person’s back.
Everyone who saw it would shout “Poison d’Avril!” (“April Fish!”)
Within Christianity, April Foolishness can be
connected to the “divine foolishness” in the life of Jesus the Christ, who
by conventional standards looked like a failure after being condemned to death
and executed as a criminal and abandoned by his friends. This was the setting
for. In this context it appears foolish to call him “Lord” and be his
follower. What followed these events was God’s April Fool’s joke on death in
the resurrection of Jesus.
In the Middle Ages, Christ was sometimes depicted
as a clown as a reminder that he was despised, betrayed, abandoned and
crucified. And likewise Christians were called to be “holy fools” in
carrying out the ministry of Christ in our world: to go the second mile, to love
our enemies, to feed the hungry, welcome the stranger, clothe the naked, and
visit the sick either personally or through the church and supporting agencies.
St Philip of Neri was the first person to
recognize the ministry of “divine humour” and it got him this epitaph:
“The Gospels and a joke collection
These two he knew with great perfection
He fed the sick on soup and riddles
and sang them psalm tunes set to fiddles
1515 to 95
He was the merriest man alive
And became a Saint by Holy Wit.”
Holy Humour Sunday reminds us to joyfully follow
the path of Christ.
anyone with more picture is asked to contact Nancy
ANNOUNCEMENTS CALENDAR
CHOIR UCW
FAMILY GROUP YOUTH GROUP
HURON PERTH PRESBYTERY
LONDON CONFERENCE
UNITED
CHURCH OF CANADA