Joking around with St. Jane Frances de Chantal

I only recently discovered St. Jane when looking up feast days in August, but what a remarkable woman she was! When she married she inherited her husband's enormous debt, but she took charge and organized all the finances and got her family back on its feet.She would give food away at her home and never turned anyone away. When her husband was killed in a hunting accident she was able to forgive the man who killed him, though she struggled at first. She was friends with St. Francis de Sales and founded the Visitation order for elderly and sickly women who were rejected by other orders. She and her husband had four children and she was a very gentle and loving person.

One of the things that jumped out at me when I read about her was a quote from a friend of St. Jane's saying, "Even stupid jokes were funny when she told them." I think that sometimes we get a picture in our heads of saints as someone stoic and serious, maybe even a little "holier than thou," so I think its great when we get an image like this! St. Jane Frances de Chantal was a human being with joy in her heart who loved to tell jokes! Of course we know that her joy came from God and was key to her work in helping the poor and needy. St. Jane is not the only one with that joy either. I have seen that great joy in all the sisters of the Religious Sisters of Mercy of Alma, MI when I visit my sister. I've seen it at the beautiful Catholic weddings of my friends. I've seen it in my friends who are in seminary studying to be priests. I've seen it in loving, Christ centered families. I've seen it in my priest from college who also loves to tell stupid jokes! Wherever God is truly present in the hearts of His people, I see a great joy.

Now in college, when that priest would tell stupid jokes, most people would moan and shake their heads. Me, I would laugh. That's because telling stupid, (aka hilarious), jokes runs in my family. Its a grand tradition going back generations. So today in honor of St. Jane Frances de Chantal, I'm going to share some of my favorites. So please feel free to share the joy and get together with your family to tell these jokes, along with your own personal favorites! Please share your favorite jokes in the comments!

Warning: Some jokes may contain elephants

Q: How can you tell if an elephant's been in the refridgerator?
A: There's footprints in the butter.

Q: Why did the cowboy buy a dachshund?
A: Because someone told him to "get a long little doggie!"

 What's the difference between an elephant and a plum?
I don't know.
Then I'm not sending you to the store for plums, you might come back with elephants!
(I have a hard time with this one. The person I tell it to always seems to try to answer the question instead of saying "I don't know.")

Q: What's brown and sticky?
A: A stick!

Q: Why are elephants big, gray, and wrinkly?
A: Because if they were small, white, and smooth they'd be asprin!

Knock Knock.
Who's There?
Winnie the Puh
Winnie the Puh-who?

Q: Why did the elephant wear green tennis shoes?
A: So he could sneak across the pool table without being seen.

 Q: What's the best time to go to the dentist?
A. Tooth-hurty! (two thirty)

Q: Why did the elephant wear red tennis shoes?
A: Because his green ones were in the wash!

Have you heard the one about the sidewalk? Its all over town!

And finally...

Q: What's gray, has big ears, and a trunk?
A: A mouse going on vacation!   fooled you, didn't I? 

To learn more about St. Jane Frances de Chantal, click here.

 This post is linked up the Catholic Bloggers Network monthly link up blitz , Equipping Catholic Families Saints Cele-linky, and the Catholic and Living It Link Up.