Sunday Reflections, 1st Sunday of Lent, Year A, 22 February 2026

Landscape with the Temptation of Christ

Joos de Momper [Web Gallery of Art]

Readings (Jerusalem Bible: Australia, Ireland, New Zealand)

Readings (English Standard Version, Catholic Edition: England & Wales, Scotland, India)

Readings (New American Bible: Philippines, USA)

Gospel Matthew 4:1-11 (English Standard Version, Anglicised)

At that time: Jesus was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil. And after fasting forty days and forty nights, he was hungry.

And the tempter came and said to him, ‘If you are the Son of God, command these stones to become loaves of bread.’ But he answered, ‘It is written, “Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God.” ’

Then the devil took him to the holy city and set him on the pinnacle of the Temple and said to him, ‘If you are the Son of God, throw yourself down, for it is written, “He will command his angels concerning you”, and “On their hands they will bear you up, lest you strike your foot against a stone.” ’ Jesus said to him, ‘Again it is written, “You shall not put the Lord your God to the test.” ’

Again, the devil took him to a very high mountain and showed him all the kingdoms of the world and their glory. And he said to him, ‘All these I will give you, if you will fall down and worship me.’ Then Jesus said to him, ‘Be gone, Satan! For it is written, “You shall worship the Lord your God and him only shall you serve.” ’ Then the devil left him, and behold, angels came and were ministering to him.

Léachtaí i nGaeilge

The Venerable Matt Talbot, Dublin

[Wikipedia; photo]

I remember vividly a homily on this gospel when I was in the seminary, around 1965. The preacher was a saintly Columban, Fr Edward McCormack, known to us as ‘Father Ted’, though he was a far cry from the Father Ted in the British comedy TV series about a group of priests in a remote part of Ireland. It wasn’t so much the preacher’s words as the sense of the horror he conveyed of the very idea of Satan trying to tempt Jesus Christ, God who became Man, that struck me and that still remains. Father Ted conveyed to me a sense of the horror of what sin is.

Lent is a time in which we can receive the grace of knowing something of the horror of sin and of the price that our loving God paid in order to save us from being lost in it. Lent is a time when the whole Church prepares to celebrate the Resurrection of Jesus at Easter. We can’t do that without going through Good Friday and all that led to that.

An essential part of going through Lent, and one that involves some pain, is accepting responsibility for our personal sins and asking God’s forgiveness in the sacrament of confession or reconciliation. This is an expression of God’s love for us as sinners, a sacrament in which Jesus gives us the grace to resist the temptations of Satan as he did in the gospel.

One person who understood the depths of God's love in the sacrament of confession was the Venerable Matt Talbot (1856-1925). In the videos above and below the scriptwriter, the late Fr Desmond Forristal of the Archdiocese of Dublin, uses the artistic device of having Matt tell his own story while walking through the streets of Dublin 60 years after his death. It's a device that for me works remarkably well.

Matt Talbot was a Dubliner who had become an alcoholic by the age of 13 or 14 and spent the next fourteen years as a drunkard. He went to the extreme once of stealing a fiddle from a beggar and pawned it to get money for drink. It was his only living, Matt tells us in the video, and I think that was the worst thing I ever did in my life. Matt made many efforts later to trace the beggar but never succeeded.

Yet during his fourteen years of drinking Matt hardly ever missed Sunday Mass, though he didn't receive Holy Communion, and always said a Hail Mary before sleeping. I think that's what saved me in the long run, he tells us.

At the beginning of the second video - each video is less than 15 minutes - Matt, masterfully played by Irish actor Séamus Forde, goes through a soul-wrenching temptation right at Communion time, something that happens the same Sunday morning at Mass in three different churches, a temptation that drives him out of each, until he falls on his knees outside one of them and prays Jesus, mercy; Mary help, a prayer that most Dubliners would have been familiar with.

Matt Talbot

The second video shows Matt sending a donation to the Maynooth Mission to China, as the Columbans were first known in Ireland, some time in the mid-1920s. The note he enclosed is in the Columban archives. The amount, one pound from himself and ten shillings (half of a pound) from his sister, was considerable for poor people.

Towards the end of the video Matt speaks of the things God had asked him to do. He put these thoughts in my mind when I was praying - and I knew they came from him. Only the priest in confession knew about these special things, small things God wanted me to do. They weren't for anybody else.

Among the special things, small things were the chains he wore on certain occasions. It was these very chains, found on his body when he died, that led to people asking questions about me . . . God must have wanted it that way . . . using me to say something to people today, now.

Lent is a gift that God gives the Church each year, a personal gift to each member of the Church, a time when he wants to put these thoughts in my mind when I am praying.

During his life Matt Talbot was the farthest thing imaginable from the 'celebrities' of today. In the 100 years since his death in 1925 he has given hope to many, especially persons struggling with alcoholism and other addictions. 

Will I allow God this Lent to put whatever thoughts he wants to in my mind by giving him time in prayer? Will I allow him, as Mary did when she said Here am I, the servant of the Lord; let it be with me according to your word, to use me to say something to people today, now?

Will I fall on my knees in moments of great temptation, as Matt did during the terrible struggle he had right at Communion time three times on that one Sunday morning, perhaps reflecting the three temptations of the Lord in today's gospel, and plead Jesus, mercy, Mary help? 

Will I allow myself to experience God's merciful love for me as a sinner through the sacrament of confession as Matt did?

They thought I was missing the good things in life. But God gave me the best part - and he never took it away.

St Francis Xavier Church, Gardiner St, Dublin 

[Wikipedia; photo]

Dubliners refer to older churches by their street names rather than by their patronal names. The church above, which Matt calls 'Gardiner Street church', is that of the Jesuits. Matt also refers a number of times to the 'chapel' in Seville Place, the Church of St Laurence O'Toole, once Archbishop of Dublin and now one  of its two patron saints of the city and archdiocese, the other being St Kevin. This is another old Dublin usage, calling a church a 'chapel'. The accent and idioms of Matt in the two videos are pure Dublin. 

When I was a child my mother, when 'going into town', i.e. into the city centre, would sometimes go through Granby Lane and we'd pray at the spot where Matt died. Everyone in Dublin then knew who Matt Talbot was. I'm not so sure about today.

You can discover more about this wonderful man, venerated by many struggling with alcoholism and other addictions, here and by googling.

Snowdrops, St Columban's Dalgan Park

19 February 2023

Pope St Leo the Great

Office of Readings, Thursday after Ash Wednesday

Dearly beloved, the earth is always filled with the mercy of the Lord. For every one of us Christians nature is full of instruction that we should worship God. The heavens and the earth, the sea and all that is within them, proclaim the goodness and the almighty power of their maker. The wonderful beauty of these inferior elements of nature demands that we, intelligent beings, should give thanks to God.

Traditional Latin Mass

First Sunday in Lent

The Complete Mass in Latin and English is here. (Adjust the date at the top of that page to 02-22-2026 if necessary).

Epistle: 2 Corinthians 6:1-10. Gospel: Matthew 4:1-11.

Apostle St Paul

El Greco [Web Gallery of Art]

Working together with him, then, we entreat you not to accept the grace of God in vain (2 Corinthians 6:1-10; Epistle).

 

 

           

 

                                                      

'Depart from me, for I am a sinful man, O Lord.' Sunday Reflections, 5th Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year C

Miraculous Draught of Fishes

Raphael [Web Gallery of Art]

Depart from me, for I am a sinful man, O Lord (Luke 5:8; Gospel)).

Readings (Jerusalem Bible: Australia, Ireland, New Zealand, Pakistan,)

Readings (English Standard Version, Catholic Edition: England & Wales, India, Scotland) 

Readings (New American Bible: Philippines, USA)

Gospel Luke 5:1-11 (English Standard Version, Anglicised)

At that time: The crowd was pressing in on Jesus to hear the word of God. He was standing by the lake of Gennesaret, and he saw two boats by the lake, but the fishermen had gone out of them and were washing their nets. Getting into one of the boats, which was Simon’s, he asked him to put out a little from the land. And he sat down and taught the people from the boat. And when he had finished speaking, he said to Simon, ‘Put out into the deep and let down your nets for a catch.’ And Simon answered, ‘Master, we toiled all night and took nothing! But at your word I will let down the nets.’ And when they had done this, they enclosed a large number of fish, and their nets were breaking. They signalled to their partners in the other boat to come and help them. And they came and filled both the boats, so that they began to sink. But when Simon Peter saw it, he fell down at Jesus’ knees, saying, ‘Depart from me, for I am a sinful man, O Lord.’ For he and all who were with him were astonished at the catch of fish that they had taken, and so also were James and John, sons of Zebedee, who were partners with Simon. And Jesus said to Simon, ‘Do not be afraid; from now on you will be catching men.’ And when they had brought their boats to land, they left everything and followed him.

Léachtaí i nGaeilge

The painter Raphael in his Miraculous Draught of Fishes above captures something of the awe of St Peter when he saw how much fish he and his companions had caught, despite their misgivings as experienced fishermen in following the advice of someone they knew to be a carpenter from the mountains of Galilee. St Peter, who had a long way to go in his formation as a follower of Jesus, recognised the utter generosity of God's providence.

The late Columban Fr John Griffin, a New Zealander who worked for many years both in the Philippines and Chile, tells a story about St Alberto Hurtado SJ (1901 - 1952) and his trust in God's providence in A priest, I bless you - Alberto. 

Fr Griffin wrote: Fr Hurtado though now canonised, is still known in Chile as Padré Hurtado - just as we still call St Pius of Pietrelcina 'Padre Pio' and St Teresa of Kolkata 'Mother Teresa' - is best known and remembered throughout Chile for his ‘Hogar de Cristo’ (Christ’s Home) Foundation. The seed for this was sown late one night when he was on his way home to San Ignacio. He met a man who was in poor health, had eaten nothing all day and had nowhere to go.

This was the priest’s first encounter with such poverty and it moved him greatly. He did what he could for the man and then asked: ‘What are our Catholics doing for those who have no roof over their heads?’ He began asking this question during his retreats and so was born the idea of ‘Hogar de Cristo’. He formed a board of directors from people eager to help – six men and 30 women. Land was available alongside the Jesuit parish of Jesus the Worker and the first night-shelters were built and an appeal for funds began. By 1945 there were five shelters that had been able to house 12,000 poor men. 

Now it was time to do something for the numerous ‘street kids’ who spent their nights under the many bridges over the Mapocho River which runs for miles through Santiago. These youngsters needed educations as well as shelter and land was donated for this purpose a few miles to the north of the city near Colina railway station and a children’s home was built.

It was immediately obvious that such youngsters needed some sort of a trade to make their future secure, so different workshops were built. Fr Hurtado was confronted by another question: ‘How many such homes and workshops are needed up and down Chile to tackle the problem of child vagrancy?’ Something, he said, that should be of concern to all Chileans.

Fr Griffins article continued with a story that for me resembles the experience of St Peter and his companions and their trust in Jesus:

Providence was always on his side. At a meeting one night his board of directors was unwilling, for lack of funds, to approve a new project. In the midst of discussions there was an unexpected call for Fr Hurtado to attend to someone at his front door. He had a brief conversation with the caller who said she wanted to leave a gift to help the great work he was doing.

He gratefully put her envelope in his pocket, wished her a good evening and returned to his meeting. He looked at the contents of the envelope as he sat down. Then he tossed a check onto the table saying, ‘There you are, ye of little faith!’ It was for one million pesos – worth about US$30,000 at that time. I'm sure he spoke to his board with a smile on his face.

Ronnie

Columban Fr Chris Saenz is an American Columban who worked in Chile for many years, initially for two years as a seminarian on First Mission Assignment. On two occasions during that period while assigned to a parish he threw a chronic alcoholic named Ronnie out of the church - Fr Chris is very tall and strong - because he was disrupting Mass. Some years later, now a priest, he visited that parish one Sunday and was astonished to see the same Ronnie as reader at the Mass. In Interview with Ronnie he allows this man to tell the story of the extraordinary change in his life and the part Padré Hurtado played in that. 

He was found in a gutter, blind drunk, and taken to a nearby hospital where another Columban priest, Fr Michael Howe, anointed him. The doctor told him that if he took one more drink he would die. Ronnie had a devotion to Padré Hurtado and entrusted himself to God through the saintly Jesuit who had died in 1952 at the age of 51 from pancreatic cancer. Ronnie, whose life since childhood had been one of suffering, never drank again and became involved in his parish and with Hogar de Cristo. Both Fr Hurtado and Ronnie had lost their fathers at a young age.

Ronnie experienced God's providence in being able to attend the canonization of this remarkable saint in 2005. Ronnie told Father Chris: There was a national lottery for Hogar de Cristo to send 36 persons from around the country.  There were seven spots for volunteers/workers of Hogar de Cristo and 29 for those who, like me, received aid. Different names were submitted from around the country, including mine and a few others from the Ninth Region. When the first ticket was drawn at the lottery my name was on it. I knew than it was Padré Hurtado’s hand again. In fact, I was the only one from our Region to go.

The party flew to Rome on a military plane with the President of Chile on board.

When San Alberto met a homeless man on his way home one night it changed his life. The homeless man was the expression of God's providence, not only for himself but for Padré Hurtado and for the countless poor people still being served more than 70 years after the saint's death through El Hogar de Cristo. It was God's providence that took Ronnie from the gutters to attending the canonisation of Padré Hurtado in Rome.

It was God's providence in the great catch of fish that changed the lives of Peter and his companions for ever. And Jesus said to Simon, ‘Do not be afraid; from now on you will be catching men.’ And when they had brought their boats to land, they left everything and followed him.

Benedict XVI canonized San Alberto on 23 October 2005

The words of Pope Benedict at the canonisation (emphases added:

'You shall love the Lord your God with your whole heart.... You shall love your neighbour as yourself (Mt 22: 37, 39). This was the programme of life of St Alberto Hurtado, who wished to identify himself with the Lord and to love the poor with this same love. The formation received in the Society of Jesus, strengthened by prayer and adoration of the Eucharist, allowed him to be won over by Christ, being a true contemplative in action. In love and in the total gift of self to God's will, he found strength for the apostolate.

He founded El Hogar de Cristo for the most needy and the homeless, offering them a family atmosphere full of human warmth. In his priestly ministry he was distinguished for his simplicity and availability towards others, being a living image of the Teacher, 'meek and humble of heart'. In his last days, amid the strong pains caused by illness, he still had the strength to repeat: 'I am content, Lord', thus expressing the joy with which he always lived.

San Alberto Hurtado SJ

(1901 - 1952) [Photo from Wikipedia]

Traditional Latin Mass

Fifth Sunday After Epiphany

The Complete Mass in Latin and English is here. (Adjust the date at the top of that page to 02-09-2025 if necessary).

Epistle: Colossians 3:12-17.  Gospel: Matthew 13:24-30.

Burning Weeds

Vincent van Gogh [Web Gallery of Art]

Let both grow together until the harvest; and at harvest time I will tell the reapers, Gather the weeds first and bind them in bundles to be burned, but gather the wheat into my barn (Matthew 13:30; Gospel).

   

Columban Fr Martin Ryan RIP

Fr Martin Ryan

23 January 1929 - 15 June 2018

Fr Martin Ryan was born on 23 January 1929 in Wildfield, Muckalee, County Kilkenny, Ireland. Educated at Muckalee National School and St Kieran's College, Kilkenny, he entered St Columban's, Dalgan Park, Navan, in 1947 and was ordained priest on 21 December 1953.

St Kieran's College, Kilkenny [Wikipedia]

Father Martin was assigned to Mindanao, Philippines, in 1954 where he would work in various pastoral assignments over the following fifty years. He served in Gingoog City (Misamis Oriental, Archdiocese of Cagayan de Oro), Dumalinao (Zamboanga del Sur, Diocese of Pagadian), Mambajao (Camiguin, Archdiocese of Cagayan de Oro), Maranding, Linamon and Maigo (all in Lanao del Norte) and in Corpus Christi, Iligan City (those four in the Diocese of Iligan).

Mambajao, Camiguin [Wikipedia]

Around the mid-1980s Father Martin became acutely aware that he had a drinking problem. After many fruitless attempts to keep sober by his own efforts, he eventually requested that he be sent to Guest House in Rochester, Minnesota, USA. He then returned briefly to parish work in Iligan City. 

He then went to Ireland where he joined a recovery group. By the grace of God, and with the help of such groups, Father Martin enjoyed continuous sobriety from then until the end of his life. With typical frankness he wrote of his alcoholism in his memoir Muckalee to Mindanao and Back: A Missionary Round Trip, 'My sobriety today is a precious gift which I cherish'.

Sr Regina 'Inday' Bernad SSC [Columban Sisters]

Once he was sober Father Martin went to extraordinary lengths, travelling long distances to hold meetings with fellow alcoholics. He was very aware that alcoholism was causing great suffering and damage to many Filipino families. finally, with the help of Filipina Columban Sister Regina 'Inday' Bernad, who died in 2016, and trained therapist Rene Francisco he founded a treatment centre in Ozamiz City called 'IT WORKS'. (More about IT WORKS here).

It Works, Ozamiz City [FB]

In its first ten years 800 Filipinos graduated from the centre and 75 per cent of them continue to be sober. Father Martin built up the centre, sought funds for its maintenance, and when he was sure that ti could continue its work without his presence he returned to Ireland.

Father Martin was blessed with a child-like directness and simplicity. He gave himself unstintingly to the task in hand. The accidental death of his brother and fellow Columban, Father Laurence, 'Lar', in October 1995 was a very heavy blow which he bore with courage and patience. He had a passion for hurling and was always anxious for news about the fortunes of Kilkenny and of his local club, St Martins, which was named in his honour. (He had convinced the three clubs attached to the three churches in his native parish that they would be much more successful if they combined. This proved to be correct).

Father Martin died at St Columban's Retirement Home in Dalgan Park. He will be buried on Wednesday 20 June in his home parish of Muckalee in the grounds of the church of St Brendan.

May his great soul rest in peace.

St Brendan's, Muckalee [Diocese of Ossory]

Obituary by Fr Cyril Lovett.

In County Kilkenny one sport is supreme: the ancient Irish game of hurling. The clip above shows the great skill of a friend of Father Martin, Henry Shefflin (No 15 in the black and amber stripes of Kilkenny and known as 'King Henry'), considered one of the greatest ever hurlers and who retired from senior hurling in 2015. These players are all amateurs.

The Rose of Mooncoin is the anthem of Kilkenny hurlers. It is sung here by Johnny McEvoy who in his introduction mentions his childhood hero Ollie Walsh, the Kilkenny goalkeeper from 1956 till 1972. 

'Yet if you say so . . .' Sunday Reflections, 5th Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year C

Miraculous Draught of Fishes, Raphael, 1515

Victoria and Albert Museum, London [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 Luke 5:1-11 (New Revised Standard Version, Catholic Edition, Canada) 

Once while Jesus was standing beside the lake of Gennesaret, and the crowd was pressing in on him to hear the word of God, he saw two boats there at the shore of the lake; the fishermen had gone out of them and were washing their nets. He got into one of the boats, the one belonging to Simon, and asked him to put out a little way from the shore. Then he sat down and taught the crowds from the boat. When he had finished speaking, he said to Simon, “Put out into the deep water and let down your nets for a catch.”  Simon answered, “Master, we have worked all night long but have caught nothing. Yet if you say so, I will let down the nets.” When they had done this, they caught so many fish that their nets were beginning to break. So they signaled their partners in the other boat to come and help them. And they came and filled both boats, so that they began to sink. But when Simon Peter saw it, he fell down at Jesus’ knees, saying, “Go away from me, Lord, for I am a sinful man!” For he and all who were with him were amazed at the catch of fish that they had taken; and so also were James and John, sons of Zebedee, who were partners with Simon. Then Jesus said to Simon, “Do not be afraid; from now on you will be catching people.” When they had brought their boats to shore, they left everything and followed him.

The painter Raphael captures something of the awe of St Peter when he saw how much fish he and his companions had caught, despite their misgivings as experienced fishermen in following the advice of someone they knew to be a carpenter from the mountains of Galilee. St Peter, who had a long way to go in his formation as a follower of Jesus, recognised the utter generosity of God's providence.

Columban Fr John Griffin, a New Zealander who worked for many years both in the Philippines and Chile tells a story about St Alberto Hurtado SJ (1901 - 1952) - still known and loved in Chile as 'Padre Hurtado' - and his trust in God's providence in A priest, I bless you - Alberto. (I've used this story a number of times but it fits in with today's Gospel).

Providence was always on his side. At a meeting one night his board of directors was unwilling, for lack of funds, to approve a new project. In the midst of discussions there was an unexpected call for Fr Hurtado to attend to someone at his front door. He had a brief conversation with the caller who said she wanted to leave a gift to help the great work he was doing.

He gratefully put her envelope in his pocket, wished her a good evening and returned to his meeting. He looked at the contents of the envelope as he sat down. Then he tossed a check onto the table saying, ‘There you are, ye of little faith!’ It was for one million pesos – worth about US$30,000 at that time. 

Benedict XVI canonized San Alberto on 23 October 2005

God's providence is something I have experienced many times. One example is when I was asked to write an article for the Columban magazine in the USA, Columban Mission. So I wrote The Miracle Girls! and it was published in October 2012. 

I got the title from one of the girls at Holy Family Home for Girls, Bacolod City,after the release of kidnapped Columban Fr Michael Sinnott in the Philippines in 2009. I had asked the girls to pray for Fr Sinnott's safe release. When I told them that God had heard their fervent prayers - and fervent they were - one of them came up to me and said, 'Father, we are the miracle girls!' (They were actually part of an international 'prayer brigade').

She was expressing something like St Alberto, a total trust in God's providence.

I was happy when my article was published but had no idea how many readers would respond with generosity, a generosity that enables the Capuchin Tertiary Sisters of the Holy Family to continue to take care of the girls whom God sends their way just as God continues, more than 60 years after his death, to provide for the Hogar deCristo (Home of Christ) movement that San Alberto started and that has spread to other countries.

Like many of 'The Miracle Girls' Father Alberto came from a background of poverty and of violence. But that didn't stop him from hearing God's call. He wanted to be a lawyer in order to help the poor. God answered his desire to help the poor of Chile, not as a lawyer but as a Jesuit priest. God called Peter and his companions to let go of their fears and of
their work: Do not be afraid; from now on you will be catching people.

St Luke tells us directly and simply how Peter and Andrew, James and John, responded to the words of Jesus: When they had brought their boats to shore, they left everything and followed him. 

They didn't become saints overnight. They failed Jesus many times and Peter even betrayed him. But Jesus never abandoned them and their hope and trust in him never vanished.

St Peter's words can encourage us when we can't see things clearly, when we are disheartened, when we've nowhere to turn to: Yet if you say so . . .

+++

Ronnie and Padre Hurtado

Columban Fr Chris Saenz in Chile threw a chronic alcoholic named Ronnie out of his church twice because he was disrupting Mass. In Interview with Ronnie he allows this man to tell the story of the extraordinary change in his life and the part Padre Hurtado played in that. And Ronnie experienced God's providence in being able to attend the canonization of this remarkable saint in 2005: There was a national lottery for Hogar de Cristo to send 36 persons from around the country.  There were seven spots for volunteers/workers of Hogar de Cristo and 29 for those who, like me, received aid.  Different names were submitted from around the country, including mine and a few others from the Ninth Region..  When the first ticket was drawn at the lottery my name was on it. I knew than it was Padre Hurtado’s hand again. In fact, I was the only one from our Region to go.

After today we won't be singing or praying the Gloria on Sunday until Easter. Above is the new English translation of the Gloria adapted to the Gregorian chant setting of the Gloria in Mass XV, Dominator Deus. You can find the Latin setting, with a literal English translation, here and the organ accompaniment here.

You will find settings of the Mass in both Latin and the new English translation on Musica Sacra, Church Music Association of America.

A Hymn to Alberto Hurtado SJ
 Written by Pablo Coloma for the beatification of Blessed Alberto on 16 October 1994, Sung by Pablo Coloma and Ximena Concha 

                   

Alberto, hoy resuena tu nombre

Se escucha tu palabra encendida

Tu rostro hoy recorre las calles

Tu huella marca un nuevo camino

Profeta que anunciaste el Reino

Supiste denunciar el dolor

Reíste con un canto a la vida

Mostraste un camino mejor.

Alberto, your name resounds today,

your enlightening word is heard,  

your face is seen today on the streets,

your footprints mark a new path.

A prophet who proclaimed the Kingdom,

who knew about pain,

who laughed with a song to life,

who showed a better way.

Alberto contemplé tu figura

incendiando las calles de una oscura ciudad.

Y vi que mil rostros reían

y otros más comprendían que era el paso de Dios.

Alberto has tocado nuestra alma

y ya siento que enciende ese fuego de Dios.

Tu vida fue un regalo divino,

una historia que hizo de este Chile un hogar.

Alberto, I watched you

lighting up the streets of a dark city.

And I saw a thousand faces laughing

and others who understood that that was the way of God.

Alberto, you have touched our soul

and I feel that I am lit by the fire of God.

Your life was a divine gift,

a story that made this Chile a home

Maestro que enseñaste a vivir

la vida como lo hizo Jesús,

mirando en los hombres que sufren

su cuerpo castigado en la cruz.

A teacher who taught how to live

as Jesus did,

looking at those who suffer,

his body punished on the cross.

Apóstol, compañero de pobres,

viviste en tu carne el dolor

de tantos que viván despreciados,

tus manos fueron pan y un hogar.

Apostle, companion of the poor,  

you lived in your flesh the pain

of the many who are despised,

your hands were bread and a home.

Alberto contemplé tu figura

incendiando las calles de una oscura ciudad.

Y vi que mil rostros reían

y otros más comprendían que era el paso de Dios.

Alberto has tocado nuestra alma

y ya siento que enciende ese fuego de Dios.

Tu vida derramada en las calles

se alsa inmensa hasta el cielo en las manos de todos.

Alberto, I watched you

lighting up the streets of a dark city.

And I saw a thousand faces laughing and others who understood

that that was the way of God.

Alberto, you have touched our soul

and I feel that I am lit by the fire of God.

Your life poured out on the streets

is infinitely raised to heaven in the hands of all.