Since we are travellers and pilgrims in the world, let us ever ponder on the end of the road, that is of our life, for the end of our roadway is our home (St Columban, 8th sermon).
12 December 2025
Sunday Reflections, 3rd Sunday of Advent, Year A, 14 December 2025
Now when John heard in prison about the deeds of the Christ, he sent word by his disciples and said to him, 'Are you the one who is to come, or shall we look for another?”'(Matthew 11:2-3; Gospel).
Readings(Jerusalem
Bible: Australia, Ireland, New Zealand)
Readings(English
Standard Version, Catholic Edition: (England & Wales, Scotland, India)
GospelMatthew 11:2-11(English Standard
Version, Anglicised)
Now when John heard in prison about the deeds of the
Christ, he sent word by his disciplesand said
to him, “Are you the one who is to come, or shall we look for
another?”And Jesus
answered them, “Go and tell John what you hear and
see:the blind
receive their sight and the lame walk, lepers are cleansed and the deaf
hear, and the dead are raised up, and the poor have good news preached to
them.And blessed is
the one who is not offended by me.”
As
they went away, Jesus began to speak to the crowds concerning John: “What did you go out into the
wilderness to see? A reed shaken by the wind?What
then did you go out to see? A man dressed in soft clothing? Behold, those
who wear soft clothing are in kings' houses.What then did you go out to see? A
prophet? Yes, I tell you, and more than a prophet.This is he of whom it is written,
“‘Behold, I send my messenger before your
face, who
will prepare your way before you.’
Truly, I say to you, among those born of women there has
arisen no one greater than John the Baptist. Yet the one who is least in the
kingdom of heaven is greater than he.
I have used this material before but it fits in with one of the themes in today's readings: Then the eyes of the blind shall be opened,and the ears of the deaf unstopped(Isaiah 35:5; First Reading), It is the Lord . . . who raises up those who are bowed down (Responsorial Psalm), Go and tell John . . . the deaf hear (Matthew 11:5; Gospel).
Fr 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. These were persons 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 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 preaching in American Sign Language on today's readings
Fr Mike Depcik OSFSis an Oblate of St Francis de Sales and 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 shall we look for another? Jesus replies, Go and tell John what you hear and see: the blind receive their sight and the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed and the deaf hear, and the dead are raised up, 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 who were 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. 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, Jesus, truly is the one who is to come.
Mary walked through a wood of thorn Kyrie eleison. Mary walked through a wood of thorn, Which seven long years no leaf had borne; Jesus and Mary.
What bore Mary beneath her heart? Kyrie eleison. A little child without any smart Mary bore beneath her heart, Jesus and Mary.
Then roses sprang from out the thorn; Kyrie eleison. As the Christ child through the wood was born, Roses sprang from out the thorn; Jesus and Mary.
These are the first three stanzas of seven but have acquired a life of their own. Their context is the Visitation. Wikipedia notes: The dead thorn wood, a symbol of infertility and death, begins to bloom when Mary walks through it with the divine child.
Traditional Latin Mass
Third Sunday of Advent
The Complete Mass in Latin and English is here. (Adjust the date at the top of that page to 12-14-2025 if necessary).
John answered them, 'I baptize with water; but among you stands one whom you do not know, even he who comes after me, the thong of whose sandal I am not worthy to untie' {John 1:26-27; Gospel).
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