Fr. Dwight Longenecker
The answer is that a religious person–any religious person–is only true if he is humble.
One of the signs of humility is humor. Religious ideologues are terribly, terribly serious.
Think about it. If you meet a religious person who never laughs he or she is a fake. Go on tell him a joke. If he doesn’t laugh don’t trust him.
The humble man laughs. He laughs at himself most of all.
Therefore the basic sign of humility is that a person admits he is wrong, that he doesn’t know everything, that he’s messed up, that he’s still learning, that he’s a fool who can fail.
That’s why I love being a Catholic, because the very first step before baptism and the stepping stone of true faith is to say with all my heart, “I repent of my sins.”
Furthermore, every day at Mass the first step is the Confiteo: I confess…
That’s why the simple prayer of the truly religious man is, “Lord Jesus Christ, Son of the Living God, Have Mercy on Me a Sinner.”
You think that’s grim and serious and sour and full of guilt and self blame?
Then you’re still taking yourself too seriously…
…and you may be turning into Darth Vader.
Ad-Free & Subscriber Log-In