This Sunday, we are continuing the celebration with Holy Humor Sunday, and remembering that God’s love gets the last laugh. Churches in 15th century Bavaria used to celebrate the Sunday after Easter as Risus Paschalis (‘God’s Joke,’ or ‘the Easter laugh’). Priests would deliberately include amusing stories and jokes in their sermons in an attempt to make the faithful laugh. After the service, people would gather together to play practical jokes on one another and tell funny stories. It was their way of celebrating the resurrection of Christ –
the supreme joke God played on Satan by raising Jesus from the dead.