Daily TV Mass Monday April 20, 2026

Fr. Steve De Maio, SDB

Transcript

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From the St. Ignatius Chapel at the Manresa Jesuit Spiritual Renewal Center in Pickering, Ontario. 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 Steve DeMeo. The televising of this Mass is made possible by the contribution from Mia Hagazi from New York. This Mass is offered in memory of her brother Sepi and for the intentions of their parents Joe and Chico Ficheray, who are celebrating their 41st anniversary today. May God continue to grant them love, fond memories, and peace. Our thanks to Mia for the gift of the televising of this Mass to the faithful of Canada, USA, and around the world. Today we pray especially for vocations to the priesthood. Priests are called to serve God's people by proclaiming the gospel, celebrating the sacraments, and leading the faithful in prayer and worship. The priestly call begins with hearing God's voice and answering with generosity and trust. It is strengthened by the prayers and encouragement of the whole Christian community. Let us pray today for men discerning this vocation and for all priests who faithfully serve the people of God. Let us now turn to Blessed Mary with our prayer for vocations.

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Blessed Mary, Mother of the Church and Mother of Vocations, we turn to you as we seek to follow your son's call. In a world filled with uncertainty and confusion, guide us to become pilgrims of hope, embracing our vocations as journeys of love and service. Intercede for us that we may respond generously to God's invitation, trusting in his providence and sharing his light with all. Amen.

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We now begin the daily TV Mass, praying for those discerning the priesthood, and for all priests faithfully living their vocation today. In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, the Lord be with you.

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And with your Spirit.

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And brothers and sisters, let us acknowledge our sins and so prepare ourselves to celebrate the sacred mysteries. You were sent to heal the contrite of heart. Lord have mercy.

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Lord have mercy.

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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. And 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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And let us pray. Grant we pray, Almighty God, that putting off our old self with all its ways, we may live as Christ did. For through the healing paschal remedies, you have conformed us to his nature, 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 Acts of the Apostles. Stephen, full of grace and power, did great wonders and signs among the people. Then some of those who belonged to the synagogue of the freedmen, as it was called, Cyrenians, Alexandrians, and others of those from Sicilia and Asia, stood up and argued with Stephen. But they could not withstand the wisdom and the spirit with which he spoke. Then they secretly instigated some men to say, We have heard him speak blasphemous words against Moses and God. They stirred up the people, as well as the elders and the scribes. Then they suddenly confronted him, seized him, and brought him before the council. They set up false witnesses who said, This man never stopped saying things against this holy place and the law. For we have heard him s heard him say that this Jesus of Nazareth will destroy this place and will change the customs that Moses handed on to us. And all who sat in the council looked intently at Stephen, and they saw that his face was like the face of an angel. The word of the Lord.

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Thanks be to God.

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Even though Princess applaudding against me, your servant will meditate on your statues. Your decrees are mighty light. They are my counselors. Happy are they who follow the law of the law. When I told of my ways, you answered me. Teach me your statues. Make me understand the way of your precepts, and I will meditate on your wondrous works. Happy are they who follow the law of the law. I have chosen the way of faithfulness. I set your ordinances before me. Happy are they who follow the law of law. But on every word that comes from the mouth of God.

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A reading from the Holy Gospel according to John. After Jesus had fed the crowd from the five loaves, he crossed the lake by walking on the sea. The next day the crowd that had stayed on the other side of the sea saw that there had been only one boat there. They also saw that Jesus had not got into the boat with his disciples, but that his disciples had gone away alone. Then some boats from Tiberius came near the place where they had eaten the bread after the Lord had get given thanks. So when the crowd saw that neither Jesus nor his disciples were there, they themselves got into the boats and went to Capernaum looking for Jesus. When they found Jesus on the other side of the sea, they said to him, Rabbi, when did you come here? Jesus answered them, Very truly I tell you, you are looking for me, not because you saw signs, but because you ate your fill of the loaves. Do not work for the food that perishes, but for the food that endures for eternal life, which the Son of Man will give you. For it is on him that God the Father has set his seal. Then they said to him, What must we do to perform the works of God? Jesus answered them, This is the work of God, that you believe in him whom he has sent. The gospel of the Lord. And today we have a beautiful gospel of Jesus just finishing feeding the people with the five loaves, and they cross the sea and they look for him, and he says, Do not work for the food that perishes, but for the food that endures for eternal life. And immediately I went, as we were celebrating this week of vocations, to the priesthood. This work for the food that endures for eternal life, this nourishment, this bread from heaven, and immediately went to the Eucharist and the great gift of the priesthood. That Jesus promised to be with us forever and that he would nourish us with his own body and blood, that he would give us eternal life through his body, through his blood. And then how was he going to do that? And then he took the twelve apostles, he broke the bread, and he said, This is my body, this is my blood, do this in memory of me. And then we begin to see after his death, after his resurrection, after his ascension and the sending of the Spirit, we begin to see the church being nourished by his body and by his blood. We begin to see the apostles, we then be seeing the deacons and the priests, and we start to see this church willing to give their life for this food that endures. And for me, it's beautiful to see all of the things in the early church and how we still have deacons, right? We still have the priests, we still have the bishops, we still have so many who are willing to lay down their life so that the people of God, the flock, can be nourished by Jesus' body and by Jesus' blood. And we see that in this, in the bishops, in the priests, in the deacons, this acting in the persona Christ, you know, acting in the person of Christ. But there's a beautiful distinction that we see in a lot of the church documents. That all of us as baptized Christians are called to act in the person of Christ. We're called through our baptism to really live the faith that Jesus Christ lives within me, and that I'm called to live this life of faith. But what it says in the documents is that the the bishops, the priests, the deacons, they're acting in persona christi capitis, the head. And there's this beautiful, unique gift that is given to them that they can then act in the person of Christ, the head, and for the bishops, for the priest to celebrate the mass. For me, it's a beautiful, beautiful gift as I reflect on my own my own priesthood. And there was a beautiful, we had the first communion. The little kids came to our church, and it was a first communion. And one of my brothers in community, I'm a Slesion of St. John Bosco, we live in community. And Father Brandon, who also does the TV Mass, I'm sure you know him from the TV Mass, he was talking to the little ones, and he was talking about the vestments of the priest, and he was talking about the stole. And he made this beautiful connection of the stole with the lost sheep. That this, as we put on this stole around our necks, it very beautifully can be the image of this lost sheep that we place upon our necks. Um, this kind of desire for the lost sheep, the desire for the people of God. And then we we don't act in our own name, that I am not the good shepherd. Father Brandon is not the good shepherd, but as we put on this stole, we are acting in the name of the good shepherd. We are acting in the name of Jesus Christ with his authority. And so then I don't go out and say my own words. I go out and I say, This is my body, this is my blood, not mine, but Jesus's. I baptize you in the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. I absolve you of your sins, right? Acting in the person of Christ, bringing mercy and grace, bringing the sacraments, bringing this food that endures forever. And so how beautiful this gift. And in the first reading, we see Saint Stephen, right, full of power, full of grace, but not his power, not his grace, but the power and grace of Jesus Christ risen from the dead. And so the beauty for us is this invitation to allow our hearts to be conformed to the Good Shepherd, right? To Jesus Christ. And he's been giving us this gift that we can act in his name. And I remember the first time, for many years I was far away from the church, from basically 18 years old until 24. I was very far from the church, not praying, not going to mass. Um, but at a certain point I desired to do something good for the world, and I was working in nonprofit work and trying to build community and education and trying to build up community through nonprofit work. And eventually I was sent down to Zambia, Africa, and I did work with the Salesian sisters. And the sisters are a little bit tricky, and they decided to invite me to go and help with that, go help with Mass. All right, go bring the kids to Mass, go pray the rosary with them, try to get involved, even though it wasn't my job with the nonprofits. They would invite me and I would go. And over those six months that I was there, I'm really beginning to have this conversion of heart to really see that everything that I was taught as a kid was was true and was beautiful. And seeing the witness of the sisters and the priests and the brothers, and at a certain point, we were praying the rosary, and it was this candlelit rosary with uh the sisters had a home for the girls at risk. And so there was all these orphans with the volunteers, with the sisters, and we were all praying the rosary together, and it was at that moment, I look back at it now, and it was this invitation to spiritual fatherhood, that there were people out there who didn't have a family, who didn't have a good family life, who didn't have the resources or the support or the security, and that I was being invited to enter into this gift of the spiritual fatherhood of the priesthood. And that's when I was 24 and I took a year of discern and then entered the Slesions at 25. And now I'll be celebrating my fifth year of priestly anniversary this June. So just really recognizing the great gift of the priesthood. Um, and there's many many young men who are being invited, but we're trying to pray, you know, pray for vocations, pray for the courage to say yes, but also to create the environment where young people have the ability to discern and to pray and to have experiences of service, to really create that environment and um and recognizing the gift. All right, I'm I'm still a sinner, I still have my personality, I still have my difficulties, but there's been a great gift, and I really just encourage all of us to pray for the priests, uh, that they may have the humility to allow their hearts to be conformed to the Good Shepherd, to really act in his name, um, to serve as he desired us to serve, and to really lay down our life for the flock, for the sheep, for for everybody that is put in our path. And so as we pray for vocations this week, uh really asking for this uh great gift that we may flourish as as priests and to continue to be at service for the church. And today we honor the priesthood, those called to be shepherds after Christ's own heart, guiding, nourishing, and sacrificing for the flock. As we celebrate the Eucharist, let us pray for our priests and for new vocations to the sacred ministry of love and service. For all those named in our daily TV Mass Prayer Intentions book, especially those submitted for prayers for vocations, may God strengthen them in discernment and fill them with courage, we pray to the Lord.

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Lord hear our prayer.

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For an increase in priestly vocations, that many men may respond to the call to serve as shepherds after the heart of Christ, bringing his mercy and sacraments to all. We pray to the Lord.

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Lord hear our prayer.

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For the month of April, our community prays that all who are burdened by grief or discouragement may be uplifted by the light of the risen Christ and renewed in hope. We pray to the Lord.

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Lord, hear our prayer.

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For parents and grandparents, that they may be good teachers to the children in the ways of faith, passing on the love of Christ by word and example. We pray to the Lord.

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Lord, hear our prayer.

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And blessed Mary, mother of priests and mother of vocations, hear our prayers for those called to shepherd your son's flock. Carry them forward to him, that they may be faithful shepherds and generous servants. Amen. Blessed are you, Lord God of all creation, for through your goodness we have received the bread we offer you, the fruit of the earth and work of human hands, it will become for us the bread of life. Blessed are you, Lord God of all creation, for through your goodness we have received the wine we offer you, fruit of the vine and work of human hands, it will become our spiritual drink.

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Thank you.

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And pray, brothers and sisters, that my sacrifice and yours may be acceptable to God, the Almighty Father. May our prayers rise up to you, O Lord, together with the sacrificial offerings, so that purified by your graciousness, we may be conformed to the mysteries of your mighty love through Christ our Lord. Amen. The Lord be with you.

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And with your spirit.

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Lift up your hearts.

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We lift them up to the Lord.

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Let us give thanks to the Lord our God. It is truly right and just our duty and our salvation at all times to acclaim you, O Lord. But in this time above all to lodge you yet more gloriously, when Christ our Passover has been sacrificed. For he is the true Lamb who has taken away the sins of the world. By dying he has destroyed our death, and by rising restored our life. Therefore, overcome with paschal joy every land, every people exults in your praise, and even the heavenly powers with the angelic hosts sing together the unending hymn of your glory as they acclaim.

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Holy, holy, holy Lord, God of hosts, heaven and earth are full of your glory. Hos and blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord. Hosan.

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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 dewful, 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.

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The mystery of faith.

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We proclaim your death, O Lord, and profess your resurrection until you come again.

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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. Amen.

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At the Savior's command, informed by divine teaching, we dare to say, Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name, thy kingdom come, thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven. 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. For the kingdom, the power and glory are yours now and forever. 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. Amen. The peace of the Lord be with you always. And with your spirit. And let us offer each other a 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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Almighty, ever-living God, who restore us to eternal life and the resurrection of Christ. Increase in us, we pray, the fruits of this paschal sacrament, and pour into our hearts the strength of this saving food through Christ our Lord.

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Amen.

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The Lord be with you.

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And with your spirit.

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May Almighty God bless you, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Amen. Mass is ended. Go in peace.

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Our thanks to our donor for the gift of this Mass.

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We gather the same.