WIT AND WISDOM
Archbishop Angelo Roncalli
(later, Pope Saint John XXIII, 1881 - 1963), had a keen sense of humour, even while holding positions of authority. His humour, openness, generosity, warmth and wisdom,
made many people love him and call him, ‘Good Pope John’. He was Canonized on 27 April
2014.
Before
becoming the Pope, he had served as Apostolic Nuncio to France. In the course
of the meal during a banquet, he offered an apple to his neighbour, a woman in
a dramatically low-cut gown. “Do take it, Madame, please do,” he urged in his
typically genial way. “It was only after Eve ate the apple that she became
aware of how little she had on.”
Another
time, he greeted a lean and ascetic-looking visitor with a sigh and the
comment: “We will both have to say a prayer to God, beseeching him to remove
half my excess fat to give it to you!”
“How many people work at the Vatican?” a
reporter asked Pope St. John XXIII. “Oh, no more than half of them,” the Pope
replied with a wink.
When a cardinal complained to Pope John that a
rise in Vatican salaries meant a particular worker, an usher, earned as much as
the cardinal, the pope remarked: "That usher has 10 children; I hope a
cardinal doesn't have any."
On
another occasion, a prelate of the Curia of Vatican told Pope St. John XXIII
that it would be “absolutely impossible” to open the Second Vatican Council by
1963. “Fine, we’ll open it in 1962,” Pope John answered. And they did it.
When
asked what he expected from the Council, he moved towards the window and made a
gesture as if to open it and said that he expected a little fresh air from the
Council. “We must shake off the imperial dust that has accumulated on the
throne of St. Peter since Constantine” he added.
Visiting
a hospital, he asked a boy what he wanted to be when he grew up. The boy said, “Either
a policeman or a Pope.” "I would go in for the police if I were you,"
the Pope said. "Anyone can become a Pope; look at me!"
One
evening, Pope St. John XXIII went to visit a friend at the hospital of the Holy
Spirit. In a flutter, the mother superior in charge of the hospital introduced
herself, “Most Holy Father, I am the superior of the Holy Spirit!” To which
Pope John replied, “Well, I must say you’re lucky. What a job! I’m only the
Vicar of Christ, just the servant of the
servants of God!”
Pope
St. John XXIII struck the same humorous note on Christmas Day in 1959, when he
visited Rome’s Regina Coeli prison. He told the inmates that he came as their
brother—and confided that one of his relatives had served a sentence for
poaching. Pope John radiated so much goodness and sincerity that there was not
a dry eye in the place by the time he finished speaking.
On
another occasion, one prisoner refused to see him. Learning that the man had
murdered his wife, Pope John persuaded the guard to let him enter the inmate’s
cell. Then he opened a hearty conversation with these words: “You know, I’ve
never been married. But if I had married, I too might have killed my wife.”
When reminded that by protocol the Pope has
to dine alone, he complained that if he dined alone, he would appear like a
seminarian under punishment. He said, “I have read the Gospel over carefully without
finding a single passage which prescribes that one should eat alone. As we
know, Jesus loved to eat in company.”
Once,
the Pope remarked, “Men are like wine - some turn to vinegar, but the best
improve with age.”
On another occasion, he said, “It
is easier for a father to have children than for children to have a real father.”
…………………………………………………………………….
©
By: Prof. Dr. Babu Philip, Former Professor, Cochin University
of Science & Technology, Fine Arts Avenue, Kochi-682016, Kerala,
India, Prof. Mrs. Rajamma Babu, Former Professor, St. Dominic's
College, Kanjirappally and Leo. S. John and Neil
John, Maniparambil, Alfeen Public
School, Kanjirappally, Kerala, India. For more moral
stories, parables and anecdotes for students, catechists, teachers and
preachers, kindly visit our web-sites:
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