St John the Baptist in the Prison
Juan Fernández de Navarrete [Web Gallery of Art]
Readings
(New American Bible:
Philippines, USA)
Readings
(Jerusalem Bible: Australia,
England & Wales, India [optional], Ireland, New Zealand, Pakistan,
Scotland, South Africa)
Gospel Matthew 11:2-11 (New Revised
Standard Version, Anglicised Catholic Edition, Canada)
When John heard in prison what the Messiah was
doing, he sent word by his disciples and said to him, ‘Are you the one who is to come,
or are we to wait for another?’ Jesus answered them, ‘Go and tell John what you
hear and see: the blind
receive their sight, the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed, the deaf
hear, the dead are raised, and the poor have good news brought to them. And blessed is anyone who takes no offence at me.’
As they went
away, Jesus began to speak to the crowds about John: ‘What did you go out into
the wilderness to look at? A reed shaken by the wind? What then did you go out to see? Someone dressed in
soft robes? Look, those who wear soft robes are in royal palaces. What then did you go out to see? A prophet? Yes, I
tell you, and more than a prophet. This is the one about
whom it is written,
“See, I am sending my messenger
ahead of you,
who will prepare your way before you.”
who will prepare your way before you.”
Truly I tell you, among those born
of women no one has arisen greater than John the Baptist; yet the least in the
kingdom of heaven is greater than he.
Fr Joseph Coyle
(28 February 1937 - 18 December 1991)
Father Joseph Coyle was a Columban priest from
Derry city, Northern Ireland. He died in the Philippines on 18 December 1991, aged
54, and is buried in a Catholic cemetery in Bacolod City.
Father Joe and I weren't related - my Coyle ancestors moved centuries ago from
the north-west of Ireland, where the surname originated, to Rush, a fishing
village north of Dublin city - but we felt a sense of kinship. He was ordained
on 21 December 1961 during my first year in the Columban seminary in Ireland.
Father Joe
spent most of his life as a priest in the island of Negros. He gradually became
aware of persons with disabilities and of how their needs weren't being met. He
was able to obtain artificial limbs for some. But he noticed that there was one
group in every community that was almost totally isolated, because they didn't
share a common language with those around them, not even with their own
families. This group was people who were profoundly deaf.
More
and more Father Joe became involved with deaf people, celebrating Mass in Sign
Language in a number of places. In the late 1980s he established Welcome Home
in Bacolod City as a residence for out-of-town deaf students so that they could
attend special schools in the city. Special Education has spread now to
many towns and that particular need is no longer urgent. But Welcome Home Foundation, Inc., continues
with a small number of residents, a school for young children, deaf and
hearing, catechetical programmes in public schools with both deaf and hearing
catechists, and other activities.
Father
Joe's death was devastating initially to the young deaf people with whom he had
worked. But his vision was continued and developed by others, most noticeably
by Mrs Salvacion V. Tinsay who died in 2008. Her daughter Mrs Agnes T.
Jalandoni, President and CEO, along with her board and staff have enabled
the work begun by Father Joe to grow and adapt to current needs.
Fr Mike Depcik OSFS is an Oblate of St Francis de Sales,
one of very few profoundly deaf priests in the world. He has his own
vlog, Fr. MD's KitchenTable, where, among other things, he posts videos of homilies for
Sunday Masses in American Sign Language, such as that above for this Sunday's
Mass.
John the Baptist sends his followers
to ask Jesus, Are you the one who is to come, or are we to wait for
another? Jesus replies, Go and tell John what you hear and see: the
blind receive their sight, the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed, the
deaf hear, the dead are raised, and the poor have good news brought to them.
For Catholics who are profoundly deaf, priests such as Fr Mike Depcik, deaf from birth, and Fr Joe Coyle, who became
aware of the isolation of the profoundly deaf, especially within their own
families, are included in the response of Jesus to his cousin St John the
Baptist: the deaf hear. The deaf aren't isolated to the same degree
as before, though I have known of priests and people who consider a signing
interpreter at Mass as a 'distraction'.
And the ministry of priests such as
Fr Depcik and Fr Coyle isn't limited to the deaf. Indeed, part of their
ministry, and of those who work with them, whether deaf or hearing, is to bring
about the change of heart that is central to Advent, not only a turning away
from sin but a recognition of the needs of others that we weren't aware of
before. It was through having friends deaf in varying degrees from birth and
through knowing Father Joe that I became aware of the isolation of the deaf
within the Church and in society at large. The same can be said to some extent of
persons with other disabilities. But profound deafness is the only physical
disability that of its nature can totally isolate a person from the community.
There will always be some, for
whatever reason, on the margins. Pope Francis has on a number of occasions very
strikingly shown his respect and love - the respect and love of Jesus himself -
for such persons. The gradual inclusion of those who are profoundly deaf in all
activities of the Church and of wider society, shown, for example, in the use of
signing interpreters at public functions and on television, is one of the signs
that Jesus spoke about to assure St John the Baptist that he truly was the
one who is to come.
by Columban Fr Thomas Rouse
It was to the credit of the Columbans that I was
accepted as a candidate for priesthood. That was back in 1969 when I was
completing Form Seven in high school at St John’s College, Hastings, New
Zealand.
You are here
I was accepted despite the fact that I was not only
deaf but I also suffered a serious speech impediment which was a consequence of
my hearing disability. My deafness was more peculiar rather than pronounced. I
cannot hear high-pitched sounds. As a result, I cannot hear many of the
consonants in my own ‘native’ English language.
Read the rest of Fr Tom Rouses' article and the responses to it of five profoundly deaf Filipinos, Normam, Willy, Eli, Noel and Marinela here.
Read the rest of Fr Tom Rouses' article and the responses to it of five profoundly deaf Filipinos, Normam, Willy, Eli, Noel and Marinela here.
Luis Antonio G. Cardinal Tagle, Archbishop of Manila, with Deaf students and staff of Welcome Home Foundation, Carmelite Monastery, Bacolod City, 26 January 2015.
Antiphona ad Communionem Communion Antiphon Cf. Isaiah 35:4
Dicite: Pusillanimes, confortamini et nolite timere:
Say to the faintof heart: Be strong and do not fear.
ecce Deus noster veniet et salvabit nos.
Behold, our God will come, and he will save us.
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