A Catholic Priest, a Baptist Preacher and a Rabbi all served as Chaplains to the students of a prestigious university in the United States.
They would get together two or three times a week for coffee and to discuss theology.
One day, someone made the comment that preaching to people isn’t really all that hard; a real challenge would be to preach to a bear. One thing led to another, and they decided to do an experiment.
They would all go out into the woods, find a bear, preach to it and try to convert it to their religion.
Seven days later, they would meet up again to discuss their experiences.
Father Flannery, who had his arm in a sling, was on crutches, and had various bandages on his body and limbs, went first.
“Well,” he said, “I went into the woods to find me a bear. And when I found him, I began to read to him from the Catechism. Well, that bear wanted nothing to do with me, and began to slap me around. So I quickly grabbed my holy water, sprinkled him and, Holy Mary Mother of God, he became as gentle as a lamb. The Bishop is coming out next week to give him first communion and confirmation.”
Reverend Billy Bob spoke next.
He was in a wheelchair, had one arm and both legs in casts, had an IV drip. In his best fire-and-brimstone oratory, he exclaimed: “Well, brothers, you know that we Baptists don’t sprinkle! I went out and I found me a bear. And then I began to read to my bear from God’s Holy Word!”
“But that bear wanted nothing to do with me. So I took hold of him and we began to wrestle. We wrestled down one hill and up another and down another until we came to a creek. I quickly dunked him and baptised his hairy soul. And Just like you said, he became as gentle as a lamb. We spent the rest of the day praising Jesus. Hallelujah!”
The Priest and the Reverend both looked down at the rabbi, who was lying in a hospital bed. He was in a body cast and traction, with IVs and monitors running in and out of him. He was in really bad shape. The Rabbi looked up and said: “Looking back on it, perhaps circumcision may not have been the best way to start!”