Pope Saint John XXIII

John XXIII  (Pope John the 23^rd)

Mom, Dad, John (Angelo), Brothers and sisters (4), Landowner, soldier, injured person,  Pope Pius XI (11th), Nazis (2), Jews (3), Nazi Bishop, Cardinals (3), Bishops (2), John F Kennedy, Khruschev

(Enter Angelo, mom, dad, brothers and sisters)

There once was young boy named Angelo.  Angelo lived with his Mom and Dad and his 13 brothers and sisters in a small farm house.  They loved each other very much, and the Dad would always say “Group Hug!”  And all of the family would hug each other.  They were poor, and worked on a farm.  As they worked they would sing “Old Linguini had a farm” to the tune of “Old MacDonald.” 

(Enter landowner)

But they did not own the land they worked on, so when the landowner came around he would say in his italian accent “Hey-a, you-a farmers-a.  Give-a me summa your croppa”

And of course, the dad would have to pay.

(Exit Landowner)

When he grew up, Angelo said good bye to each of his family members in the traditional Italian style, by kissing them on each cheek and saying “Ciao!”  Then Angelo left his home and became a priest.

(Exit mom, dad, brothers and sisters.  Enter soldier, injured person.)

When world war I broke out, a soldier came and ordered Angelo to join the army.  Fr Angelo was a chaplain, and he would help the other soldiers carry the injured people to safety.

(Exit soldier, injured, enter Pope Pius XI)  

One day Pope Pius XI  called him and said “You are a bishop!”  The crowd cheered!

Then Pope Pius XI died.

(Exit Pope, enter mom)
 Around the same time, Angelo’s mom died.  He was very sad.

(exit mom, enter Nazis, jews)

During world war II, evil Nazis invaded and started arresting all the Jews.  Angelo went to the Nazis and set “Let them go.”  And the Nazis actually listened!  So Angelo helped the Jews escape, saying “Run away, run away!”

(Exit Jews, enter Nazi Bishop)

After World War II ended, the Nazis cried because they lost.  Angelo had to work with some Bishops who had sided with the Nazis when they had control of France.  Angelo shook his finger at the Bishop, and said “Naughty, Naughty.” 

The Bishop said “I know.  I’m sorry.”

Angelo said “I’m sorry too, for all the times that Catholics were mean to Jews.

(Exit Nazis, Nazi Bishop, enter Cardinals)

When the Pope died, all the Cardinals, which by then included Angelo, got together to choose a new pope.  The Cardinals said “Let’s pick someone old who can run things for a few years without changing anything.”  So they picked Angelo.  Angelo said “I will be called Pope John the 23^rd!”

Then Angelo said “Let’s get all of the bishops in the world together for a new Church Council!  We need to change a few things around here!”

The audience gasped.  They called out “Unthinkable!” and “How dare he!”

(Enter Bishops)

But the Cardinals and Bishops got together and said “You know, we should make the Church more loving, and try to get along better with other Christians.” The audience applauded.  Then the Cardinals and bishops all joined hands and sang "Kumbaya".

(exit cardinals and bishops, Enter Kennedy and Kruschev)

One day the President of the United States, John F Kennedy, and the head of the USSR, Nikita Khruschev, came to see Pope John XXIII.  Kennedy said (in his best JFK accent) “The Russians have, uh, placed missiles in Cuba, which, uh, threaten the United States of America.  They need to get rid of them, or we will, uh, drop nuclear bombs on the USSR.”

But Khruschev said, in his best Russian accent “You’re not the boss of me.  You drop bomb on me, I drop bomb on you. Then we see who laughs.”

Pope John XXIII said “How about nobody drops bombs on anyone!”

Everybody thought  that was a great idea.  So Khruschev and Kennedy shook hands, while the crowd said “Pope John the 23^rd is Man of the Year!”

Pope John XXIII died a little while later.  He had only been Pope for 4 years.

Pope Saint John XXIII-  Pray for Us