When I speak to young people about my life as a priest, inevitably the question is posed: What do you do for fun? In other words, they want to know if I’m “normal.” So, my friends, if you are interested, here are some “normal” things that I enjoy:
• I’m a diehard New England Patriots fan (still not over that February 2008 game). I literally try to plan my schedule around their games.
• If I’m driving on the highway on a warm day, I love to roll my windows down, blast James Taylor or John Mayer, and sing at the top of my lungs.
• I look forward to watching 24 on Mondays with my friend Fr. Dave while we snack on pretzels and sip Dewar’s on the rocks.
• I think 18-holes of golf with friends on a sunny summer day, followed by dinner, is as close to a perfect day as it gets.
• I cherish Sunday afternoon dinners with my family, sitting around the kitchen table for hours, and laughing a lot.
• Some of the most enjoyable moments I’ve had over the last several years have been on cruise vacations with my family.
• An unrushed dinner with friends, with lots of laughter, is one of my favorite ways to spend an evening.
• I love to travel.
Are these holy moments? Are they compatible with living a holy life? I believe they are. Now, I’m not claiming to be holy; but I’m striving for holiness, and I just don’t see how the above-mentioned list is incompatible with a holy life.
For some, the image that comes to mind when they hear the word “holy” is a monk or a nun in deep contemplation, cut off from the world. And it’s true that many monks and nuns are living very holy lives; but most of us are not in convents or monasteries. We are in the world. So is it possible to live a holy life but to really enjoy our lives? To have fun?
The Lord created the world. Creation is good. So we ought to enjoy the goodness of creation: relationships, food, drink, leisure, travel, music, theater, etc. True, all of these things can be abused. People can drink too much. Music can be bad—even sacrilegious. Leisure can be abused to the point of avoiding work or life commitments—at which point it becomes laziness. However, taken in moderation, everything that I mentioned above is compatible with a holy life and is even the expression of a holy life. Holiness is more than just being in the chapel. (Although if we’re striving for holiness then it goes without saying that we need to spend time in daily prayer).
God wants us to enjoy our lives. Holiness doesn’t mean walking around with a sourpuss. In fact, the holiest people I know possess the most joyful and warm personalities. They are fun to be around. Being holy means being authentically human, being fully alive. The closer a person is to the Lord, the more fully alive will they be. Being holy means embracing what is authentically human. That is precisely what God did: He became man in the Person of Jesus Christ. If anything validates the goodness of creation it is the fact that God took on our human nature and lived among us!
Jesus cherished family and friendship. He dined in peoples’ homes. He went to weddings and drank wine. The Incarnate Word of God—the Way, the Truth, and the Life—loved life! And His saints did too:
• St. Philip Neri had a tremendous sense of humor.
• St. Josemaria Escriva enjoyed love songs
• Blessed Pier Giorgio Frassati loved to hike with friends and enjoyed smoking a pipe.
• Pope John Paul II loved to ski
In our daily lives, while we are engaged in non-religious activities, it is still possible to live in God’s presence and to feel His presence. In fact, that’s a good way to gauge whether or not what we are doing is holy: With a clear conscience, can I thank the Lord for this moment (this music, this place, this sporting event)? Is this moment leading me closer to Him or farther away?
Joy is a fruit of the Holy Spirit, and if we’re living an authentic Christian life then we ought to be joyful. So don’t be a depressed Christian! Enjoy your life, and let other people see that you enjoy it! Everything that is good comes from the Lord. People will be drawn to Christ through you if you embrace what’s good in the world and the culture.
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yes, i believe that holiness and fun can go together.
People, especially the young ones, can get easily attracted to someone who has an aura of being happy, of someone who knows how to have fun. And I think this is one of the challenges of the vocation promoters, to “sell” the notion that priesthood and religious life can be a “fun-filled,” and at the same time, grace-filled experience, to be an example that priests and religious are not “frozen delights.”
Jesus, I think, understood this notion very well especially when he said not to put on a gloomy face when fasting
God loves a cheerful giver. Jesus used to bring his apostles to Cesarea Philippi after a tiring day of doing their ministry, I believe, not only to pray but to have some rest and recreation 
Ellis,
So true: the best vocation poster is a joyful priest or religious sister/brother. It’s so important for us who are called to serve the Church in priesthood and religious life to radiate joy. That will attract more young people to serve the Lord.
Thanks for reading
St Escriva’s writings and teachings about cheerfulness have always been a great inspiration to me. Sometimes we can just “suck the fun out of life” with our own attitudes and bring doom and gloom wherever we go. No wonder people don’t want to hang around us if we walk around like Eeyore all the time. But when you run into a truly cheerful person, one that has that interior – supernatural – joy and knows how to enjoy life, no matter what, then they will be so much more effective in drawing us closer to God. Archbishop Dolan comes to mind right now! He is such a joyful man!! He was recently interviewed and asked why he was always so happy. He tied it all in with the virtue of hope. – Thanks for sharing your “human” side with us. Sometimes we do forget that priests are *actually* human beings too! ;o)
Michelle,
St. Josemaria was said to be a truly joyful man. Joy is a mark of holiness. Thank God for people like Archbishop Dolan who can radiate the joy of the Lord to others. Being joyful, being fully alive, does indeed draw people to Christ.
Peace!
Fr Mike,
So, I posed my teenage son your question ” Are fun and holiness compatible?” And he answered NO! So I read him your post. This became a teacheable moment for him, and for me as well, since I guess I have to rethink how I have been living my faith around here. Thanks for the opportunity.
Michelle,
So glad that you were able to teach your son using this post! As always, thanks for reading and thanks for your feedback!
Peace!
Your reflections are not only helpful in the sense of vocations awareness and understanding the daily life of a priest, but they are a reminder of the Ignatian call to find God in all things. We are called to live in the world and find holiness where we live. This post is a wonderful reminder of that.
Denise,
Now that I think about it, I should have mentioned Ignatius and how he encouraged us to find God in all things. Thanks for reminding me. I enjoy Ignatianspirituality.com
Peace!
Lovely post. I enjoyed learning more about you, Fr. Michael. I think your words are an important message for those who impose an unfair and heavy burden of “otherworldliness” on priests and nuns, etc.
Thanks, as always, Belinda. The challenge for us is to be “otherworldy” (focused on Heaven) while being in the world. Otherworldly doesn’t mean not enjoying the good things of this world. It just means we see it all as a gift from the Lord.
Peace!
Just last Sunday I went to the church and heard a wonderful sermon about holiness. The most amazing part about that sermon was that it was fun, serious and holy at the same time.
Thank you Father Michael for sharing these thoughts on holiness and fun. I think that most people are scared away from religion just because they are afraid that they will not be able to have fun in life. This is the biggest misconception in my opinion and I SO agree with
“The Lord created the world. Creation is good. So we ought to enjoy the goodness of creation”
Anastasiya,
Thanks for reading and sharing your thoughts. You’re so right about people being scared away from religion because they’re afraid it will take away their fun. The truth is, the more we get to know Christ, the more joy and peace and freedom we experience in our lives. Keep up the good work on your blog.
Peace!
Fr. Mike,
I loved this post of yours. I love JOY. And I love to see a priest who extols joy. It’s one thing to talk about it but it’s another to spread it to others from it spilling from their very being.
It is easy to think that we are not to enJOY the things of this world, but you put it all in great perspective. It seems as though everything revolves around moderation.
Creation is good!
God bless you and your priesthood.
Jan
Jan,
Thanks for reading. It’s said that the best vocation poster is a joyful priest. I firmly believe that.
Peace!
“Joy is a fruit of the Holy Spirit, and if we’re living an authentic Christian life then we ought to be joyful. So don’t be a depressed Christian! Enjoy your life, and let other people see that you enjoy it!”
I got to know you a lot better through this post & got encouraged by the time I finished reading.
Good to the last drop, Fr. Michael!
Father, in spite of my difficulties I always have the desire to be:
always happy
always healthy
always humble
always helpful
always holy and
always handsome (I should be because I am a son of the Queen of the Universe)
Father, it is a joy to read your write ups. They are very consistent with the spirituality of the Saints and I can see that you always express your thoughts according to the mind of the Church but in a language so carefully suited to the modern times. Thank you for your noble apostolate, Father.