Fr Michael Paul Gallagher - Messenger of Wonder and Wonderful Messenger

Fr Michael Paul Gallagher SJ

Fr Michael Paul Gallagher SJ called people to discover a God who was much more loving than they had dared imagine, writes Fr Thomas Casey SJ in this beautiful tribute which was first published in the Irish Catholic.

Early in his rich and varied teaching career, the gifted Irish Jesuit, Fr Michael Paul Gallagher, who died last Friday (6th November 2015) at the age of 76, used to give an introductory course to students of English literature in University College Dublin. At a certain point, he liked to write these three intriguing words on the blackboard: "ha", "aha", and "ah". He made his students sit up and think by claiming that these three strange sounds stood not only for the three basic approaches toward literature, but also for the three fundamental stances toward human life as a whole.

He asked them not to fall into the trap of arriving too quickly at judgments, to be careful not to rush hastily into uttering a smug and even contemptuous "ha", before they even took the trouble to experience and understand things properly. He then pronounced the second sound - "aha" - with a rising rhythm, to make audible the moment when we understand something. He told them how college was meant to be full of these "aha" moments, as they learned new things and discovered new insights. But, then, looking solemnly at his audience, Fr Michael Paul would warn them not to become so excited by their "aha" moments that they ended up stifling the deepest and most central experience of all - the experience of wonder, the "ah" experience.

To read on see: www.jesuit.ie/news/messenger-of-wonder-and-wonderful-messenger/

(This page also has links to a number of podcasts and videos)