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).
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).
GospelMatthew 3:1-12(English Standard
Version, Anglicised)
In those days
John the Baptist came preaching in the wilderness of Judea, ‘Repent, for the
kingdom of heaven is at hand.’ For this is he who was spoken of by the prophet
Isaiah when he said, ‘The voice of one crying in the wilderness: “Prepare the
way of the Lord; make his paths straight.” ’
Now John wore a
garment of camel’s hair and a leather belt round his waist, and his food was
locusts and wild honey. Then Jerusalem and all Judea and all the region about
the Jordan were going out to him, and they were baptised by him in the river
Jordan, confessing their sins. But when he saw many of the Pharisees and
Sadducees coming to his baptism, he said to them, ‘You brood of vipers! Who
warned you to flee from the wrath to come? Bear fruit in keeping with
repentance. And do not presume to say to yourselves, “We have Abraham as our
father”, for I tell you, God is able from these stones to raise up children for
Abraham. Even now the axe is laid to the root of the trees. Every tree
therefore that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire.
‘I baptise you
with water for repentance, but he who is coming after me is mightier than I,
whose sandals I am not worthy to carry. He will baptise you with the Holy
Spirit and fire. His winnowing fork is in his hand, and he will clear his
threshing floor and gather his wheat into the barn, but the chaff he will burn
with unquenchable fire.’
A major theme in the texts for this Sunday's Mass is the call to repentance. In those days John the Baptist came preaching in the wilderness of Judea,“Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand . . . You brood of vipers! . . . Every tree therefore that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire . . . His winnowing fork is in his hand, and he [the Messiah] will clear his threshing floor and gather his wheat into the barn, but the chaff he will burn with unquenchable fire.”
St John the Baptist is echoing the words of Isaiah in the First Reading about the Messiah who is to come: with righteousness he shall judge the poor,and decide with equity for the meek of the earth;and he shall strike the earth with the rod of his mouth,and with the breath of his lips he shall kill the wicked.
Sin has been with us since the time of Adam and Eve. That is why the Word became flesh and dwelt among us (John 1:14). No human being except Jesus and Mary has been sinless. Sin is ultimately the rejection of God's love.
In our time, within the last few decades, Western society in particular has accepted as 'good' and as 'rights' practices that have always been seen by Christians and by others as sinful. It has largely rejected what we read in Genesis 1:27: So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them. Linked to that is the rejection of Genesis 2:24: Therefore a man shall leave his father and his mother and hold fast to his wife, and they shall become one flesh. A powerful international lobby has persuaded many Western countries to deny both of these statements, to legalise a parody of marriage and to undermine the family, all in the false name of 'equality'.
In some Western jurisdictions it is lawful to genitally mutilate perfectly healthy bodies of adolescents who may be going through the 'turbulence' that hits everyone of that age to one degree or another.
Another new phenomenon is surrogacy, hiring women who almost always are struggling financially and living in another country, to bear a child conceived artificially outside of the way nature itself teaches us. Alongside that we have the widespread destruction of children in their mothers' wombs. This is not something new in itself but it was never presented before as a 'good' or as a 'right' promoted and paid for in many instances by the state on an industrial scale.
All of these things are a grave affront to God our loving Creator who made us to be with him for ever in heaven.
We are preparing in Advent to celebrate the arrival of the Christ-Child, God who became Man, 2,000 years ago. More importantly, perhaps, we are also preparing to welcome him, now the Risen Lord Jesus coming in glory, when he returns at the end of time. At the same time we are preparing to face the Lord Jesus at the end of our individual lives.
Jesus died so that each and every one of us would seek his forgiveness and be with him for ever in glory in heaven. His coming into the world in a stable in Bethlehem was a personal act of love by God for each of us individually and for all of us as the only creatures made in his own image.
St John the Baptist says to the Pharisees and Sadducees coming to him for baptism in language that would be considered 'offensive' by many today and perhaps labelled as 'hate language' by some politicians, You brood of vipers! Who warned you to flee from the wrath to come? Bear fruit in keeping with repentance. The great saint was reminding them - and us - never to take God's mercy for granted, never to forget that God's mercy is shown above all in the death of Jesus on the Cross.
But the Entrance Antiphon - far too often omitted at Mass - expresses God's desire for all of us with the note of joy that is central to Advent: O People of Sion, behold the Lord will come to save the nations, and the Lord will make the glory of his voice heard in the joy of your heart.
The Communion Antiphon expresses something similar: Jerusalem, arise and stand upon the heights, and behold the joy which comes to you from God.
May each of us judge wisely the things of earth and hold firmly to the things of heaven. Through Christ our Lord (Prayer after Communion).
Conditor Alme Siderum - Creator of the Starry Height
Translation from Latin by Monsignor Ronald A. Knox
Musical setting by Flor Peeters
Columban Fr John Colgan RIP
13 September 1938 - 22 November 2025
Please pray for the repose of the soul of Fr John Colgan who died here in Ireland after a long illness on the eve of St Columban's Day, which this year was the Solemnity of Christ the King.
Now when John heard in prison about the deeds of the Christ, he sent word by his disciplesand said to him, “Are you he who is to come, or is to come, or shall we look for another? (Matthew 12:2-3; today's Gospel).
I came across this video yesterday, Tuesday 1 December, and posted it on Facebook. When I opened Facebook this morning I found a message from Loren herself, whom I have never met, and one from a mutual friend in the Philippines, Gwen Llano, who has been involved in Faith and Light for many years. Gwen gave a seminar in Lebanon in 2020 and met Loren there.
The website of the Catholic Bishops' Conference of the Philippines (CBCP) has a report on Loren's talk here. The report by Roy Lagarde says: Pope Leo XIV on Monday said migrants’ experiences must push Christians to oppose war and build communities where no one seeking safety feels unwelcome, after hearing a Filipino woman’s testimony.
Loren Capobres, a former Filipino domestic worker in Lebanon who now works with Jesuit Refugee Service, shared stories that illustrate both the human cost of conflict and the Church’s moral responsibility.
Capobres described her work with migrants through Couples for Christ Lebanon, the Arrupe Migrant Center, and St. Joseph’s Tabaris Parish, which she calls her second home.
She said the parish, supported by Jesuit Refugee Service, became a shelter for migrants who lost homes, work, and security during fighting.
Lebanon is a country that knows suffering. The Lebanese Civil War (1975-1990) led to 150,000 deaths and a million people leaving the country. The population in 1970 was 2,386,114.The country has also given refuge to people fleeing from other wars in the Middle East.
Catholic immigrants such as Loren Capobres bring a deep and generous faith and enrich the countries wherever they go. Here in Ireland I'm often struck by the Catholic faith of Filipinos, Indians from Kerala, who trace their faith back to St Thomas the Apostle, and Nigerians in particular. They come from countries that are very different culturally in many ways from Ireland, but share with us here the deepest identity of all: our Catholic faith received at baptism that when lived leads persons to serve others generously.
May God continue to bless Loren Capobres and so many others like her, wherever they may be.
GospelMatthew 24: 37-44(English Standard
Version, Anglicised)
At that time: Jesus said to his disciples: ‘For as were the
days of Noah, so will be the coming of the Son of Man. For as in those days
before the flood they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in
marriage, until the day when Noah entered the ark, and they were unaware until
the flood came and swept them all away, so will be the coming of the Son of
Man. Then two men will be in the field; one will be taken and one left. Two
women will be grinding at the mill; one will be taken and one left. Therefore,
stay awake, for you do not know on what day your Lord is coming. But know this,
that if the master of the house had known in what part of the night the thief
was coming, he would have stayed awake and would not have let his house be
broken into. Therefore you also must be ready, for the Son of Man is coming at
an hour you do not expect.’
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).
The above text is at the top of the home page of this blog. St Columban's words, written more than 1,400 years ago, remind me of the destination God desires for me and for all of us: heaven.
The texts of today's Mass invite us to focus on that end and on Jesus Christ, God who became Man. Put on the Lord Jesus Christ St Paul tells us in the Second Reading (Let your armour be Jesus Christ, in the Jerusalem Bible translation). In the Collect (Opening Prayer) the priest addresses God the Father on our behalf with these words: Grant your faithful, we pray, almighty God, to resolve to run forth to meet your Christ with righteous deeds at his coming, so that, gathered at his right hand, they may be worthy to possess the heavenly kingdom . . .
This prayer alludes to the The Final Judgment in Matthew 25, where those joyfully running forth to meet your Christ will be gathered at his right hand. And the words running forth remind me of the welcome his father gave to the Prodigal Son: But while he was still a long way off, his father saw him and felt compassion, and ran and embraced him and kissed him (Luke 15). Whether we are running forth to meet Christ or the Father is running to embrace and kiss us, there is that strong note of joy. I believe that this is what Jesus meant at the Last Supper when he said to the Apostles: These things I have spoken to you, that my joy may be in you, and that your joy may be full (John 15:11).
On the same occasion Jesus told the Apostles what heaven is: And this is eternal life, that they know you the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom you have sent (John 17:3).
These words of Jesus tell us absolutely clearly that our faith as Christians is one of relationship, coming to know our Father through Jesus Christ and to be with them for ever.
The Prayer over the Offerings focuses on the theme of eternal life: Accept, we pray, O Lord, these offerings we make, gathered from among your gifts to us, and may what you grant us to celebrate devoutly here below, gain for us the prize of eternal redemption . . . The prayer reminds us also that everything we have and the eternal life that the Father wants for us are pure gift from God.
The Prayer after Communion reinforces St Columban's words that the end of our roadway is our home. The priest prays on our behalf: May these mysteries, O Lord, in which we have participated, profit us, we pray, for even, as we walk amid passing things, you teach us to love the things of heaven and hold fast to what endures . . .
In Advent we prepare to celebrate at Christmas the First Coming of Jesus Christ - And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us (John 1:14) - and we prepare for his Second Coming in glory at the end of time when we hope to run forth to meet Christ at the Last Judgment.
But during Advent we also prepare to meet Jesus in our daily lives, particularly through these mysteries in which we participate. These mysteries above all are the celebration of the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass. From the earliest days of the Church this has been celebrated by Christians gathering together on Sunday, the Lord's Day, the day on which Jesus rose from the dead, the Resurrection being at the heart of our faith. (It is incorrect to refer to Sunday as 'the Sabbath', the Jewish holy day observed every Saturday.) The Catechism of the Catholic Church reminds us: On Sundays and other holy days of obligation the faithful are bound to participate in the Mass. And as the response to the Responsorial Psalm reminds us, I rejoiced when I heard them say: 'Let us go to God's house.'
Listening to the Word of God at Mass and receiving the Risen Lord, in Holy Communion prepare us to recognise Him in the many ways He comes to us in our daily lives. In the painting above, The Infant Jesus Distributing Bread to Pilgrims, Murillo is foreshadowing the Eucharist in which the same Jesus, now the Risen Lord, gives himself 'Body and Blood, Soul and Divinity' to us to strengthen our faith by putting on the Lord Jesus, as St Paul tells us.
This is how the Lord prepares us to be ready whenever and in whatever way He will come.
Locus Iste
Music by Anton Bruckner, sung by Voces8
Locus iste a Deo factus est, inaestimabile sacramentum irreprehensibilis est.
This place is made by God, inestimably sacred, irreprehensible.
Response to Responsorial Psalm (Ps 121 [122]:1)
I rejoiced when I heard them say: 'Let us go to God's house.'
Traditional Latin Mass
First Sunday of Advent
The Complete Mass in Latin and English is here. (Adjust the date at the top of that page to 11-30-2025 if necessary).
