Did Jesus have a sense of humor?

Humor was part of Jesus’ humanity. We see this in Scripture (e.g., Luke 18:25). However, when a Christian is wondering whether to watch an irreverent movie that has no redeeming value, the go-to question should be, “Would Jesus watch this with me?” Some people may find this to be a corny question, but is it?

The movie Monty Python and the Holy Grail contains a lot of irreverent humor and vulgarity. Catholics should be bothered by the mocking references to relics and the disturbing conversations with God in this movie. Why is this considered funny? Unfortunately, because crude and irreverent humor is so commonplace today, we’ve become desensitized to the spiritual harm it can cause. What once offended our Catholic sensibilities is now viewed by many as normal and acceptable. This type of irreverent humor only helps contribute to the loss of the sense of the sacred.

We can control what movies or television shows we watch. We can also control how we nourish and feed our spiritual life. By reading good literature (including spiritual reading), and pursuing holiness, crude and irreverent humor will be less attractive.

I might add that there are movies and books that are morally problematic yet have redemptive value (e.g., Graham Greene’s The End of the Affair and The Power and the Glory, both of which were made into movies) and could be comfortably viewed or read by most Catholics.

For further reading, try How to Read a Dirty Book by Irving and Cornelia Sussman.