A Little Wickedness

From the desk of Fr. Ignatius Waters, cp

Sunday, 20th January 2019

I know I shouldn’t have been, but I was really pleased, at the time, with my drawing of Fr. Ninian passing by my window on his way to French class. And why? Because he had only one student for French but there was more fuss about that one student than about all the others in the Juniorate! The time was the first years after my ordination when I was teaching in our Juniorate in Crossgar in Co. Down. It’s hard to believe now that there were at least five young Passionist priests involved full time in teaching. At weekends, we helped out in parishes all around Co. Down.

Was I wrong to make fun of poor Ninian or was it just a little wickedness? It’s true some humour can be hurtful but good humoured, humour, which hurts no one, seems to be applauded in scripture: “Be not just to excess, and be not over wise lest you be ruined. Be not wicked to excess but do not be a fool.” (Eccles. 7:16- 7.)  The inspired writer is asking religious people to keep their feet on the ground and seems to infer that a little wickedness is not all that bad!  It would be serious if I said something like Mark Twain said about a recently dead acquaintance: “He was a solemn, unsmiling, sanctimonious old iceberg who looked like he was waiting for a vacancy in the Trinity.” He also said, “I have never killed a man, but I have read many obituaries with great pleasure.” And Oscar Wilde said of someone he knew, “He had no enemies, but he was hated by his friends.” He also said, “Some people cause happiness wherever they go and others whenever they go.”

The writings of St. Teresa of Avila are full of holy common sense, good humour and a little wickedness. In her sublime commentary on the Song of Songs, she describes a lady full of self – importance, all mixed up with religion and devotions, and Teresa says, “She and others like her were saints in their own opinion but when I got to know them, they frightened me more than all the sinners I have ever met!” I didn’t know till recently that St. Therese also had a great sense of humour which, it’s thought, she got from her father. “She had a particular gift for mimicking the tone of voice and mannerisms of other people,” according to her sister, Leonie, but made more fun of herself than of others.

A sense of humour is a very serious sense. It’s a sense of balance, enabling us to take serious things seriously but not to take anything, especially ourselves, too seriously!