'He taught them as one who had authority'. Sunday Reflections, 4th Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year B

 

Christ as Teacher (Cristo Docente)

Fourth Century Roman Sculptor [Web Gallery of Art]

Readings (Jerusalem Bible: Australia, England & Wales, Ireland, New Zealand, Pakistan, Scotland)

Readings (New American Bible: Philippines, USA)

Gospel Mark 1:21-28 (English Standard Version Anglicised: India)

[Jesus and his disciples] went into Capernaum, and immediately on the Sabbath he entered the synagogue and was teaching. And they were astonished at his teaching, for he taught them as one who had authority, and not as the scribes. And immediately there was in their synagogue a man with an unclean spirit. And he cried out, “What have you to do with us, Jesus of Nazareth? Have you come to destroy us? I know who you are—the Holy One of God.” But Jesus rebuked him, saying, “Be silent, and come out of him!” And the unclean spirit, convulsing him and crying out with a loud voice, came out of him. And they were all amazed, so that they questioned among themselves, saying, “What is this? A new teaching with authority! He commands even the unclean spirits, and they obey him.” And at once his fame spread everywhere throughout all the surrounding region of Galilee.

Léachtaí i nGaeilge

O'Connell Primary School, Dublin [Source]

The stadium in the background is Croke Park, the renovation of which was completed in 2005. One of the main events of the visit of Pope Francis to Ireland in 2018 took place there.

In September 1953 the school building above was opened. O'Connell Schools - there is both a primary and secondary school - were founded in 1828 and named after Daniel O'Connell, the outstanding figure in Irish history in the first half of the 19th century, known as 'The Liberator'. He was a major benefactor in the building of the original school. He was also largely responsible for the Catholic Emancipation Act of 1829 in Westminster which abolished most of the Penal Laws against Catholics in the United Kingdom, of which the whole of Ireland was part at the time.

I was in Fourth Class (Grade Four) in 1953-54 and was blessed to have a wonderful teacher named John Galligan. I didn't realise until about twelve years later when I was in the seminary what a wonderful teacher and mentor he was. He was around the same age as my father at the time, 40 or thereabouts. All my other teachers in the primary school, both Irish Christian Brothers and laymen, were in their 20s.

John gave us a great grounding in the grammar of both Irish and English. He encouraged us to read the newspapers - and not just the sports pages. He stimulated my interest in writing and in reading, though I was already an avid reader at that stage, borrowing books from Dublin's public libraries. And he taught with a delightful sense of humour.

He was forever talking about his wife Mary. Their son Bernard was in our class and John treated us all with the same respect. One day he brought in Mary so that we could meet her.

At that time in Ireland children made their confirmation once they reached the age of ten. John prepared us for the sacrament which we celebrated in March 1954 in St Agatha's, North William Street, the parish in which our school was located. He was also sponsor or godfather to all of us when we were confirmed.

Mr Galligan, as he was known to us boys (the school was only for boys), also taught us how to use the hand missal in Latin and English that many had so that we could participate fully in the Mass, which in those days, as it had been for centuries, was what is now often referred to as the Traditional Latin Mass.

During my seminary years it dawned on me that not only had John Galligan been a first-class teacher, but a first-class mentor of the faith. The way he prepared us for confirmation and the way he taught us how to use the missal were not 'mechanical' acts but expressions of his living faith. His love for his wife Mary was a living out of the Sacrament of Matrimony that they had conferred on one another on their wedding day.

Whenever I read or hear these words in today's gospel, And they were astonished at his teaching, for he taught them as one who had authority, and not as the scribes . . . What is this? A new teaching with authority!, I think of John Galligan and others like him. He spoke to us youngsters in Fourth Class not only with the authority of his being our teacher but, much more importantly, with the authority of the integrity of the way he lived his Catholic Christian faith. He was quite probably unaware of that.

I have used this Reflection before but while preparing it this time it struck me that John Galligan's inner authority was in full harmony with that of my father, also John, who spent all his working life on construction sites where he was a general foreman for many years. I worked with him during the summer of 1967, a few months before my ordination to the priesthood. Though there was much swearing, which didn't surprise or shock me, none of it came from my Dad. The workers respected him because he respected them. And like John Galligan he was a great mentor to young workers and to young architects. And he often spoke of two particular foremen under whom he had worked as a young carpenter. The qualities he saw in them were the qualities I and others saw in him. 

John Galligan and John Coyle were men of deep Catholic Christian faith.

What the people in Capernaum saw in Jesus was his inner authority. That was the only authority he had, which came from the reality that he was God who became Man, doing the will of the Father. Each of us through baptism and confirmation is called to share in that authority of Jesus in the way we live our daily lives.

One of my regrets is that I did not invite John Galligan to attend my First Mass. However, in the 1980s I was invited to write a weekly column for The Freeman, a daily newspaper in Cebu City. My second column was an appreciation of John Galligan. I sent a copy of it to him through the school, though he he had retired by then. This led to my visiting him and Mary a number of times while home from the Philippines, a delightful experience.

I am grateful to God for John Galligan - and for many others, especially my Dad -  who taught me the faith as one who had authority, the authority of Jesus himself.

O Salutaris Hostia

Latin text by St Thomas Aquinas

This Eucharistic hymn is often sung when Benediction is celebrated.

O salutaris Hostia,
Quae caeli pandis ostium: 
Bella premunt hostilia,
Da robur, fer auxilium.
Uni trinoque Domino 
Sit sempiterna gloria,
Qui vitam sine termino 
Nobis donet in patria.
Amen.

O saving Victim, opening wide,
The gate of heaven to man below!
Our foes press on from every side;
Thine aid supply, thy strength bestow.

To Thy great name by endless praise,
Immortal Godhead, one in Three;
Oh, grant us endless length of days,
In our true native land with Thee. Amen.

St Thomas Aquinas

Blessed Fra Angelico [Web Gallery of Art]

The Feast of St Thomas Aquinas is observed on 28 January. However, as that falls on Sunday this year it will not be celebrated by the Universal Church. The painting above is by his fellow Dominican friar, Blessed Fra Angelico.

Traditional Latin Mass

Septuagesima Sunday

The complete Mass in Latin and English is here. (Adjust the date at the top of that page to 1-28-2024 if necessary).

Epistle: 1 Corinthians 9:24-27; 10:1-5. Gospel: Matthew 20:1-16.  

The Grape-Picker

Bernhard Keil [Web Gallery of Art]

For the kingdom of heaven is like a householder who went out early in the morning to hire laborers for his vineyard (Matthew 20:1; Gospel).

Isn't that a marvellously alive portrait of the grape-picker?