When a Christian, especially a religious, loses his sense of humor he becomes sour, like something “preserved in vinegar” and loses the vibrancy that can help him appeal to others, Pope Francis said on November 7, 2024, in a meeting with a group of pilgrims from Spain who came to Rome to celebrate the 450th anniversary of the foundation of the Monastery of the Augustinian Nuns of Talavera de la Reina in Toledo.
In his speech, Pope Francis encouraged his audience to be holy and joyful and to remember to be grateful for what they have. He referenced saints like St. Philip Neri.
“Please, do not lose your joy, do not lose your sense of humor. Do not lose it. When a Christian, even more so a man or woman religious, loses their sense of humour, they ‘turn sour.’ And it is so sad to see a priest, a religious, a nun, ‘turn sour.’ They are preserved in vinegar,” the Pope said. “Holiness is always joyful [...]. Have a smile that comes from the heart, that is not false, that is always full.”
Here the Pope got the crowd chuckling, especially the women religious, by warning them against having a merely superficial smile like a flight attendant might have. (His imitation is at the end of the video below.)
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To become truly joyous Pope Francis encouraged the pilgrims to read a prayer by St. Thomas More, which he has cited several times in his speeches. It says in part, “Grant me, O Lord, a sense of good humor.” This can keep us “‘fresh’ in the service of God,” the Pontiff emphasized adding that, “a sad saint is a poor saint.” This phrase, often attributed to St. Teresa of Avila, is a play on words in Spanish as it uses two definitions of the word sad: unhappy and of poor quality.
The Pope in fact also asked the Augustinian sisters to always “be an example of inner life” and “teachers of the art of prayer” in order to transmit to others “the ability to speak with God, the ability to listen to him, to feel Him present in every moment of life and to accept His inspirations with docility.”
Remembering Valencia
Despite the Pope’s exhortation to his audience to be joyful, he also took a more serious tone to remember all those affected by the severe flooding that occurred in Valencia, central Spain, at the end of October, which caused 217 deaths so far with many still missing.
“These days I am very close to Spain, because of the tragedy of Valencia,” the Pope said, explaining how on November 6 during the general audience he prayed before a statue of Our Lady of the Forsaken, patroness of the city.
“This leads me to give you another piece of advice: Always have the needs of others at heart,” he said. “When someone starts to complain that they have too much work, think of those who have none. There are people who cannot pay the rent and who are exploited and when you enter the convent, the parish house, think, ‘I have this for free.’ When in your parish house, your convent, and on the days when it snows and rains, you are well protected, think that there are people who sleep outdoors, in all conditions.”
