The Pope's Day at The Beach

As the pope watched, horrified, a speedboat came racing up with three men wearing Va Tech jerseys. One quickly fired a harpoon into the sharks' side. The other two reached out and pulled the bleeding semiconscious Clemson Tiger from the water. Then using long clubs, the three beat the shark to death and hauled it, too, into the boat.
Immediately the Pope shouted and summoned them to the beach. "I give you my blessing for your brave actions," he told them. "I heard that there were some bitter hatred between The Va. Tech Hokies and The Clemson Tigers but now I have seen with my own eyes that this is not true."
As the Pope drove off, the harpooner asked his buddies "Who was that"?
"It was the Pope," one replied. "He is in direct contact with God and has access to all of God's wisdom."
"Well," the harpooner said, "he may have access to God's wisdom, but he doesn't know much about shark fishing. Is the bait holding up O.K., or do we need to get another one?"
Originally published August 27, 2003.