By JOE PROCOPIO
In October of 1958 I remember the election of Pope John XXIII. In December of that same year he celebrated his first Christmas Mass as Pope. It was also the first time that the Church had the technology to set up a broadcast of the Christmas Mass worldwide with radio and television.
Being 2,000 years old, the Church is the oldest living organization on Earth and she invited everyone in the world to be a part of this memorable Mass. There were people from all over of the globe — purple-robed cardinals, peasants, average men and women, intellectuals, dummies, poor, rich, religious, non-religious, Catholic and non-Catholic alike from nearly every nation.
Even though this was a brand-new Pope, it was just another Christmas Mass with just another Christmas homily. A sermon can be very boring — if it is about the same subject every year for 2,000 years. After all, how many times can you tell the story about Christmas without repeating yourself? People were prepared to be bored. The mood was: Ho-hum, another Christmas homily.
The Pope walked up to the microphone to give his talk in the vernacular. Speaking in Italian, he began by saying:
“Who represented us at the First Christmas? If you say it was the angels, you would be wrong because the angels do not have bodies like us. If you say it was the shepherds, you would be wrong because the shepherds were farmers and many of us are not farmers. If you say it was the Wise Men, you would be wrong because the Wise Men were wealthy and highly educated but most of us are poor and stupid.
“I will tell you who it was that represented us at the First Christmas. It was — the Jackass.”
The whole world stirred. You could hear the rustling and murmuring of people everywhere. Church people felt especially humiliated, thinking thoughts like: “I brought this person next to me all the way from China only to be mortified by this man.” “How can the Holy Spirit give us this big oaf as our Pope?”
It helps to remember the enormity of the embarrassment for the religious in the Church because they devote their entire lives to Christ and His Church. They do not have ordinary jobs with families and children to worry about. In addition to their religious duties, a large number of them spend a great deal of time praying and studying. Many are scholars. The priest who was the head of languages in the Vatican at the time knew 125 languages. So this was truly an awkward moment for all.
After a while, the Pope said:
“The Jackass was always feeling sorry for himself. He felt frustrated and thought his life was too monotonous — meaningless. He was habitually unhappy. He would always walk around with a long face or, what the Italians call ‘una faccia lunga.’
“One day, as he was walking, he looked up and he saw a horse. He thought to himself: ‘What a beautiful animal the Lord made when He created the horse. Look at him. He’s gorgeous. He has a magnificent mane and can run like the wind.
“ ‘Me — I am short and ugly. I have no mane and cannot run very fast at all.’
“He continued walking with a long face and, as he walked, he looked up and he saw a camel. This time he said to himself: ‘What a wonderful creature God made when He made the camel. Look at him. He can go for days [as the Pope put it: “Giorni, giorni”] — days, days — without any water.
“‘Me — I am always thirsty and can never seem to slake my thirst.’
“Again he continued walking with a long face when he looked up and he saw a cow. He said to himself: ‘What a marvelous creature God made when He made the cow. Look at her. She is very friendly and gets along with everyone. The cow not only gives milk to nourish her own but she nourishes other creatures as well.
“ ‘Me — I cannot nourish anyone. I am not easy to get along with and I am very stubborn.’
“Continuing with his walk, he looked up and saw a baby in a manger. There was something special about the baby. Something in the look of the baby’s eyes that captured his attention. So he went into the manger and sat down by the infant. It was a cold wintry night and the baby was cold.”
Here the Pope described a bit of the better part of our nature by saying that no one likes to see children suffer. Even people who do not like children, do not like to see them suffer.
Then the Pope said that the Jackass began breathing heavily on the baby.
The next thing everyone heard was the Pope panting loudly into the microphone. He was a very large man and so it sounded something like this: Uhh Huh…Uhh Huh . . . Uhh Huh.
“After a while, the baby reached up and patted the Jackass’ muzzle — as if to say: ‘Thank you. Thank you. Thank you for keeping me warm on this cold wintry night.’
“Now, for the first time in his life, the Jackass was happy. He no longer felt sorry for himself. He had found meaning and purpose in his life and all his troubles went away.”
And then the Pope said something that absolutely astounded the entire world.
“For that’s the way it is with Almighty God. All He wants is the warm breath of a living soul. You give Him that and He will take care of the rest.”
Let me repeat that. It is so powerful and compelling that I want you to remember it for the rest of your life:
“For that’s the way it is with Almighty God. All He wants is the warm breath of a living soul. You give Him that and He will take care of the rest.”
The whole world was overwhelmed. Stunned. It was utterly silent for a very long time. Even then, as a young man, I said to myself: “What could anyone possibly say after that? Get off the podium. There is nothing more anyone can add to that statement.”
Finally the silence was broken and the Pope spoke again. He said — and I must give you the Italian first:
“Da un asino a tutti voi altri asini, Buon Natale.”
Which means:
“From one ass to all you other asses, Merry Christmas.”
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(Joe Procopio is a writer who lives in North Carolina.)
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