St. Columba Parish - Durango, CO

St. Columba School

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4th Sunday in Ordinary Time
January 29, 2012

It will be 20 years this year ago that Dad died. Throughout his whole life, he pretty much ruled the house. His whistle brought us running from the creek, his words were able to calm Ma and the rest of us down after a particularly rough day, he was able to keep the parish pastor and the school sisters satisfied by the way that he took care of the furnaces at the church and the school, and he was most persuasive when talking to people who had credit at the store. They listened to his reasoned and sensible approach to their predicament and to ours. He also was great with the kids who came to the store, kids whom he knew he had to watch to help them stop shoplifting without ever letting them know what he knew that they were trying to get away with. Without even saying so, Dad exuded authority in the household and in the business, an authority that just was there.
That’s sort of the authority that Jesus had. He wasn’t a scribe or a Pharisee; he wasn’t one of the priests that had authority nor was he a leader in the synagogue.
It’s just that wherever he went and whatever situation he was in, people listened and responded. People who heard him speak were mesmerized by his words and his actions especially as they were spoken in the temple or in the synagogue. As the gospel records: “the people were astonished at his teaching, for he taught them as one having authority and not as the scribes.”
The scribes were supposed to have the authority; but somehow people just sensed that they really didn’t have it. If we can apply a modern turn of speech: the scribes did the talking but not the walking. People instinctively knew the difference. It was absolutely necessary that the talker did the walk. Otherwise his or her authority was obvious but meaningless. Jesus’ authority was obvious and meaningful.
Whatever our place in life, we pray that whatever authority we have that it come from our ability to live up to what we profess. God bless you.