Fr Brendan Byrne SJ celebrated the masses at St Canice’s this weekend.

Advent is a season of waiting; the time when the Church longs for the coming of the Lord. In his homily, Fr Brendan explains that In this longing the Church looks in two directions, so to speak. Backward to the Lord’s first coming as a child born to Mary in Bethlehem. Forward to his second coming as Son of Man at the end of time.

As waiting people, we are asked to be alert people. We don’t want to be taken unawares.

Christian life involves keeping a sharp ear and a keen eye for the coming of the Lord – not just his coming at the end of time but his coming in all the varieties and guises in which, as the Gospel and Christian spirituality instructs, he comes into our lives on a daily basis.

After morning tea in the forecourt at the 10.30 am Mass Fr Brendan was inspiring with his talk on the Gospels; explaining how each of the evangelists recollect the recollections of their particular communities and tell of the life of Jesus in different ways.