Chaplaincy thoughts for the week: 14 June

As the build up to the General Election continues to pick up pace, a number of resources and reflections have begun to be released from Catholic agencies to help those of faith in their deliberations and decision making. The Holy Father in recent years has spoken of the need for the world to engage in a better kind of politics and we have big decisions to make in a few weeks’ time (Fratelli Tutti, Chapter 5). The Jesuit Missions have a page with a variety of prayers, meditations, reflections on CST and a document on what they think a new government should commit to. CAFOD have a plethora of resources and ways to help you use your voice and hold candidates to account on poverty issues. They remind us of Pope Francis’ words in Evangelii Gaudium (Joy of the Gospel) as a backbone for finding the correct politicians to truly represent our views:

I beg the Lord to grant us more politicians who are genuinely disturbed by the state of society, the people, the lives of the poor! It is vital that government leaders […] ensure that all citizens have dignified work, education and healthcare.

(Pope Francis – Evangelii Gaudium, #205)

Finally, the Catholic Bishops of England and Wales have a dedicated page looking at all the issues of faith and politics to help you make an informed decision, including a message from Cardinal Vincent Nichols.

It’s a well-known joke that religion and politics aren’t always the easiest to put together, and the same could be said of religion and comedy at times. I rarely come across many religious jokes that do not fall under inappropriate and offensive or lame and unfunny. However, I was intrigued to see that the Holy Father will be holding a gathering of worldwide comedians at the Vatican today. The audience will include a huge majority of Italian comedians and entertainers, as well as the likes of Ardal O’Hanlon (Fr Dougal!), Whoopi Goldberg, Tommy Tiernan (Gerry, Derry Girls), Chris Rock, Stephen Merchant and Ian Hislop. The audience, jointly organised by the Vatican’s Dicastry for Culture & Education, alongside the Dicastry for Communication, will bring together entertainers from 15 countries around the world and is intended to establish a link between the Catholic Church and such artists.

Pictured: Pope Francis greeting crowds with his usual joyous demeanour

The press release from the Vatican stated that the gathering aims to “celebrate the beauty of human diversity…and promote a message of peace, love and solidarity.” It “promises to be a moment of meaningful intercultural dialogue and sharing of joy and hope”. In the past, Pope Francis has shared that ‘actors, artists, cartoonists and writers, have the ability to dream up new versions of the world. Often with irony which is such a wonderful virtue.”. Over the years we’ve seen in Pope Francis’ mannerisms, stories, interactions and homilies/ reflections that humour is a natural part of his life. He attributes this to daily prayer to an English Saint, Thomas More, his prayer contains the request ‘grant me a sense of humour’. It’ll be interesting to see what is shared from the meeting today and who gets the biggest laugh out of Pope Francis!

It only seems right to end with a joke: What did Jonah’s family say when he told them all about his misguided adventure on the way to Nineveh? Something sounds fishy.

Mr Robinson

Lay Chaplain