Daily TV Mass Friday March 27, 2026

Fr. Ernesto De Ciccio

Transcript

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From the historic Loreto Abbey Chapel. With the kind cooperation of the Toronto Catholic District School Board, the National Catholic Broadcasting Council presents the Daily TV Mass.

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Welcome to the celebration of the Daily TV Mass. I'm Father Ernie DiCiccio. The televising of this Mass is made possible by the contributions from three donors. The first is Gregoria Ciccone and family from Victoria, British Columbia, in loving memory of their husband, father, and nonno Salvatore Ciccone, who passed away six years ago today on March 27, 2020, and for his deceased family members. Salvatore was kind and selfless, and may his legacy live through his family and the countless lives he touched. Also for the intentions of the living family members, and in thanksgiving for blessings received. The second is the Oneschuk family from Windsor, Ontario, in loving memory of William Bill Oneschuk, a devoted family man and an extraordinary husband, father, grandpa, papa, brother, uncle, and friend. Bill passed away on March 27, 2022. And though he is deeply missed, he remains forever in their hearts and always in their thoughts. This Mass is also offered for the intentions of the Onestchuk and Stanko families. The third is Cynthia Lang from Halifax, Nova Scotia, in memory of her beloved husband, Dr. Herbert Lang. His example of deep faith, courage, and caring will forever be an inspiration to their family. Special thanks to all who make possible the Daily TV Mass, which spreads the message of hope that God loves us all. Our thanks to our donors for the gift of this Mass. In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen. The Lord be with you.

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And with your Spirit.

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My dear brothers and sisters, as we continue our journey of Lent, and now we're in the season of the Passion, we give thanks to the Lord Jesus who came to save us by giving his life for us. We thank God for all the blessings we've received. We acknowledge, too, our human weakness and ask the Lord for strength and for mercy. You were sent to heal the contrite of heart. Lord, have mercy. You came to call sinners. Christ have mercy. You are seated at the right hand of the Father to intercede for us. Lord, have mercy. May Almighty God have mercy on us, forgive us our sins, and bring us to everlasting life.

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Amen.

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Let us pray. Pardon the offenses of your peoples, we pray, O Lord, and in your goodness set us free from the bonds of the sins we have committed in our weakness. Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son, who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit, God forever and ever.

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Amen.

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A reading from the book of the prophet Jeremiah. In distress, Jeremiah raised his voice to the Lord. O Lord, you have enticed me, and I was enticed. You have overpowered me, and you have prevailed. I have come a laughing stock all day long. Everyone mocks me. For I hear many whispering, terror is all around. Denounce him. Let us denounce him. All my close friends are watching for me to stumble. Perhaps he can be enticed, and we can prevail against him and take our revenge on him. But the Lord is with me like a dread warrior. Therefore my persecutors will stumble, and they will not prevail. They will be greatly shamed, for they will not succeed. Their eternal dishonor will never be forgotten. O Lord of hosts, you test the righteous, you see the heart and the mind. Let me see your retribution upon them. For to you I have committed my cause. Sing to the Lord, praise the Lord, for he has delivered the life of the needy from the hands of evildoers. The word of the Lord.

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My fortress and mighty live my car, my rock, in whom I take a f in my distress, my cause upon cause and the Lord is my shield, and the source of my salvation, my strong heart. I call upon the Lord who is worthy to be praised, so I shall be saved from my hands in my distress I call upon thought and praise to you thought, King of Eternate Spirit, you have the words of everlasting praise to you, King of Etern.

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A reading from the Holy Gospel according to John. The Jews took up stones to stone him. Jesus replied, I've shown you many good works from the Father. For which of these are you going to stone me? The Jews answered, It is not for a good work that we are going to stone you, but for blasphemy, because you, though only a human being, are making yourself God. Jesus answered, Is it not written in your law, I said you are gods? If those to whom the word of God came were called gods, and the scripture cannot be annulled, can you say that the one whom the Father has sanctified and sent into the world is blaspheming because I said I am God's Son. If I am not doing the works of my Father, then do not believe me. But if I do them, even though you do not believe me, believe the works, so that you may know and understand that the Father is in me and I am in the Father. Then they tried to arrest Jesus again, but he escaped from their hands. He went away again across the Jordan to the place where John had been baptizing earlier, and he remained there. Many came to Jesus, and they were saying, John performed no sign, but everything that John said about this man was true, and many believed in him there. The Gospel of the Lord. This weekend is going to be Palm Sunday. And as we read the gospel these days, we get this sense of impending doom. Something terrible is about to happen. Even though Jesus had been teaching and preaching and healing, even though Jesus was showing people God's love, many were turning against him, especially those in authority. We're told that they wanted to arrest him. They wanted to stone him already. And they would do worse than that, as we'll remember on Good Friday. This passage from the gospel today says something interesting. It's not for any good work that we're gonna stone you, but because you've spoken blasphemy. Our words can get us in trouble sometimes. Yes, we focus so much on the things that we do or fail to do. But we should really watch our language too. I tell myself that all the time, because I'm known as Father, no filters, and you never know what comes out of my mouth. But I gotta be sensitive, because our words can hurt others, and in Jesus' case, are like ourselves too. I always tell people that old line, sticks and stones, may break my bones, but words may never hurt me. That line is not true. Words can hurt. And in Jesus' case, words got him in trouble. And what did he say that was so wrong? That he was God's son. We're all God's children. And he even uses their own arguments against them. If the scripture says, you are gods, what are you attacking me for now? I'm not doing anything that's against the word of God. But as much as his words were important, his actions were more important. And our actions are more important too, because actions always speak louder than words. And he tells them, believe the works if you don't believe me. The works of Jesus were works of healing. Works of mercy. Works of kindness and compassion. Imagine people not recognizing that. But of course, the opponents, their hearts were closed. No matter what Jesus did, they would never be satisfied. No matter what argument he came up with, they would never be convinced. No matter what miracle they would witness, it would not be good enough. There's an old line that I think I saw at the end of the movie, Song of Bernadette, says something like, for those who have faith, no proof is necessary. For those who don't have faith, no proof will suffice. So Jesus was stuck. No matter what he did, people would hate him. People would want to see him dead. But thank goodness, not everybody's like that. At the end of the gospel, even though Jesus had to escape, as it were, we're told that many believed in him. And even though among those many, some would deny him, some would betray him, some would feel weak and hide, they still kept the faith. As we prepare to journey through Holy Week. Let's ask God to help us keep our faith so that we can be united to Christ in his passion and thus be united with him in his resurrection. And now let's offer our prayers to the Lord our God. For all those in our daily TV Mass Prayer Intentions book, we pray to the Lord. This month's community prayer is for fathers, grandfathers, and protectors, that they may lead with wisdom and humility, inspired by the quiet faith of Saint Joseph. We pray to the Lord. For all those who are sick or suffering, whether in body, mind, or spirit, we pray to the Lord.

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Lord Prayer.

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For peace on earth, for peace in the church, for peace in our families, and for peace in our hearts. We pray to the Lord. Loving God, we ask you to hear and answer us in our need, for we pray through Christ our Lord. Fruit of the earth and work of human hands, it will become for us the bread of life. It will become our spiritual drink. Grant, O merciful God, that we may be worthy to serve ever-fittingly at your altars, and there to be saved by constant participation through Christ our Lord.

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Amen.

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The Lord be with you. Lift up your hearts. Let us give thanks to the Lord our God. It is truly right and just our duty and our salvation always and everywhere to give you thanks. Lord, Holy Father, Almighty and Eternal God, for through the saving passion of your Son, the whole world has received a heart to confess the infinite power of your majesty, since by the wondrous power of the cross, your judgment on the world is now revealed and the authority of Christ crucified. And so, Lord, with all the angels and saints, we too give you thanks, as in exaltation we acclaim. You are indeed holy, O Lord, the fount of all holiness. Make holy, therefore, these gifts we pray, by sending down your spirit upon them like the dewfall, so that they may become for us the body and blood of our Lord Jesus Christ. At the time he was betrayed and entered willingly into his passion. He took bread and giving thanks broke it, and gave it to his disciples, saying, Take this, all of you, and eat of it. For this is my body which will be given up for you. In a similar way, when supper was ended, he took the chalice, and once more giving thanks, he gave it to his disciples, saying, Take this, all of you, and drink from it, for this is the chalice of my blood, the blood of the new and eternal covenant, which will be poured out for you and for many for the forgiveness of sins. Do this in memory of me. Therefore, as we celebrate the memorial of his death and resurrection, we offer you, Lord, the bread of life and the chalice of salvation. Giving thanks that you have held us worthy to be in your presence and minister to you. Humbly we pray that partaking of the body and blood of Christ, we may be gathered into one by the Holy Spirit. Remember, Lord, your church spread throughout the world, and bring her to the fullness of charity, together with Leo, our Pope, and Francis, our bishop, and all the clergy. Remember also our brothers and sisters who have fallen asleep in the hope of the resurrection, and all who have died in your mercy. Welcome them into the light of your face. Have mercy on us all, we pray, that with the Blessed Virgin Mary, Mother of God, with Blessed Joseph, her spouse, with the blessed apostles and all the saints who have pleased you throughout the ages, we may merit to be co-heirs to eternal life, and may praise and glorify you through your Son, Jesus Christ.

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Through him and with him and in him, O God Almighty Father, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, all glory and honor is yours forever and ever.

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Give us this day our daily bread, and forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us, and lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. Deliver us, Lord, we pray, from every evil. Graciously grant peace in our days, that by the help of your mercy we may be always free from sin and safe from all distress, as we await the blessed hope and the coming of our Savior, Jesus Christ. Lord Jesus Christ, who said to your apostles, peace I leave you, my peace I give you. Look not on our sins, but on the faith of your church, and graciously grant her peace and unity in accordance with your will, who live and reign forever and ever. The peace of the Lord be with you always. Let us offer each other the sign of peace. Behold him who takes away the sins of the world. Blessed are those called to the supper of the Lamb.

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My Jesus, I believe that you are present in this holy sacrament of the altar. I love you above all things, and I passionately desire to receive you into my soul. Since I cannot now receive you sacramentally, come spiritually into my soul, so that I may unite myself wholly to you now and forever. Amen.

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Let us pray. May the unfailing protection of the sacrifice we have received never leave us, O Lord, and may it always drive far from us all that would do us harm. Through Christ our Lord. The Lord be with you. May Almighty God bless you, the Father and the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Go in peace, glorifying the Lord by your life.

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Our thanks to our donors for the gift of this month.

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We gather we stay of God as long. We gather with Jesus.