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Introduction

A cheerful heart is good medicine,but a crushed spirit dries up the bones.

— Proverbs 17:22

Laughter, God’s special gift to human beings, sets us apart from other creatures. Even laughing hyenas don’t really laugh. Because we are made in God’s image and likeness, it follows that God must have a sense of humor too! The fact that he created the platypus and two-year-olds proves it. In the Bible, God’s lighter side is revealed early on by the joke he played on Sarah, Abraham’s wife. When an angel foretold that this elderly couple would have a son, Sarah laughed at the news and became the unofficial patron saint of laughter. God had the last laugh, though, because Sarah did bear one-hundred-year-old Abraham a son (see Genesis 18:1-15; 21:1-7).

Jesus, the God-man, had a funny bone like the rest of us. Perhaps he was familiar with the Jewish proverb, “What soap is to the body, laughter is to the soul.” Jesus conjures up ridiculous images: a camel trying to squeeze through the eye of a needle, a burning oil lamp placed under a bed, and a log in one’s eye. No doubt Jesus chuckled when he sent the fisherman Peter to fetch tax money in a fish and when he told about the persistent woman who threatened to give a judge a black eye. Jesus even stooped to making a pun, which is lost in translation. He spoke of straining out a gnat (galma) and swallowing a camel (gamla).

Laughter has been called “the sound of the soul dancing” and “carbonated holiness.” It expresses inner joy, one of the fruits of the Holy Spirit; and, according to the Jesuit Pierre Teilhard de Chardin, joy is the most infallible sign of the presence of God.

Laughter also has physical benefits. For good reasons it is known as the best (and cheapest) medicine. Laughing promotes health by massaging the inner organs, strengthening the immune system, improving blood flow, and relaxing muscles. It also releases endorphins, the feel-good hormones that reduce stress and pain. Ironically, like a disease, laughter is contagious.

The Origin of This Book

This small book is a collection of humorous anecdotes gleaned from the classrooms of the Sisters of Notre Dame. For more than 140 years, we have been in the United States, carrying out the spiritual work of mercy “teaching the ignorant.” This challenging work has been brightened by the amusing things that students, parents, and we ourselves have done.

Children are a constant source of laughter, as any parent knows. The surprising things they say and do keep the show America’s Funniest Home Videos in business. Many times during a school day, we teachers struggle to keep a straight face, and failing that, burst out in laughter, what comedian Milton Berle called “an instant vacation.”

The anecdotes in this book cover misunderstandings, mispronunciations, and mistakes in various subject areas. The students range from preschool to high school age. Some humble sisters tell on themselves, recounting blunders they made. The merry tales found on these pages prove that truth is funnier than fiction. I guarantee that as you read them, you will smile, if not laugh out loud.

Why Is Jesus in the Microwave? is a warm, enjoyable treat that makes the perfect gift for anyone associated with Catholic schools or looking for funny stories to add spice to a homily or talk. We must teach laughter to a world that has many reasons not to laugh. Isn’t this the point of Pope Francis’ apostolic exhortation The Joy of the Gospel?

The little prince in Antoine de Saint-Exupéry’s The Little Prince leaves his friend the gift of his laughter. To whom can you give that gift today?

Working with children, young and old, we sisters are laughing all the way to heaven! I invite you to join us. Go ahead. Indulge in a little laughter.

Mary Kathleen Glavich, SND

September 18, 2014

Feast of St. Joseph of Cupertino

(known for physical levity)