Comedy is Hard!

1 Peter 2:24

He himself bore our sins in his body on the tree, that we might die to sin and live to righteousness. By his wounds you have been healed.

Actor Edmund Gwenn was lying on his deathbed when somebody asked him if dying was hard.  “Dying is easy,” replied the old veteran, “Comedy is hard.”  Besides being a classy way for an old hand at the craft to go, it was insightful.  After all, we’re all going to die.  It requires no special talent.  But the essence of comedy is, after all, to look like a fool — and that’s hard.  Harder still is admitting one’s folly: an essential ingredient of repentance.  So hard is it, in fact, that we can’t do it without God’s help (whether we realize he is helping us or not).  And God has given the help.  He who had nothing to repent of went through all the struggles of self-denial and self-offering “even unto death, death on a cross” so that he would be able to give us the power to do what he has done.  Now, he shares that humanity—perfected in suffering—with us! Today, seek the help of Christ crucified to “die to sin and live to righteousness. By his wounds you have been healed.”

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Mark P. Shea is a popular Catholic writer and speaker. The author of numerous books, his most recent work is The Work of Mercy (Servant) and The Heart of Catholic Prayer (Our Sunday Visitor). Mark contributes numerous articles to many magazines, including his popular column “Connecting the Dots” for the National Catholic Register. Mark is known nationally for his one minute “Words of Encouragement” on Catholic radio. He also maintains the Catholic and Enjoying It blog and regularly blogs for National Catholic Register. He lives in Washington state with his wife, Janet, and their four sons.

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