Daily TV Mass Friday April 24, 2026

Fr. Henk van Meijel, S.J.

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 Hank van Meyle. The televising of this Mass is made possible by the contribution from two donors. The first is a grant from the Hugh D. McKellar Fund in support of the Daily TV Mass. The second is offered in loving memory of Neville McKinnon on his death anniversary today. May God, in his boundless grace and mercy, comfort and strengthen all families who have recently lost loved ones. May He grant them peace, courage, and healing in the time of grief. Also for all the souls in purgatory, may God's light guide them, his mercy purify them, and may they be welcomed into the fullness of eternal joy. May their souls and the souls of the faithful departed rest in peace. Amen. And our thanks to our donors for the gift of this Mass. Today we pray for two distinct vocations. First, the dedicated single life, and the second, the call to ordained order of consecrated virgins. These two paths call for a heart undivided, offering one's entire life to God in prayer, service, and witness. In a distracted world, these two vocations stand as a sign of total belonging to the Lord and readiness for his mission. In a moment we will hear a short reflection from Andrea Nicole Karandang, who is currently discerning her call to the Order of Consecrated Virgins. Let us pray for those discerning these two vocations that they may embrace it with joy and for all who live the single life as a gift of undivided love for God and neighbor. We now turn to Andrea's reflection.

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My name is Andrea Nicole Carendang, and I am a candidate for consecrated virginity in the Archdiocese of Toronto. Consecrated virginity is the oldest form of vocation for women starting in the early church, where women gave their resolve to remain as perpetual virgins, to belong to Jesus Christ as his bride, and were willing to die rather than break this resolve. However, as religious orders developed throughout the church, this practice fell out of use. The Second Vatican Council called for a revision of the right of consecration to a life of virginity, with a new right being proclaimed in 1970. In 2018, a document was released by the Vatican to guide bishops in the formation of women discerning a life of consecrated virginity in the world. That same year, I encountered Jesus in a new personal way, recognizing that he still wanted me and loved me, despite the many times that I had been unfaithful. In response, I wanted to give myself fully and totally to him. A year later, while sitting in Eucharistic adoration, I asked Jesus to take my entire heart and life and to use me as he desired and to bring me to that path that will most glorify him. At the time, I had no idea what this would mean for my life, but this prayer opened my heart to the healing that he wanted to do to help me fully discern my vocation. It was also around this time that I learned about consecrated virginity. After attending my campus minister's consecration in Toronto, he began to reveal to me that he was calling me to be his bride. In 2020, while watching the live stream of the Easter Vigil from St. Michael's Cathedral, my heart was pierced by the words of Isaiah 54, which said, Your Maker is your husband. It felt like confirmation of his call for me to be his bride, but I still had no idea what this concretely meant for my life. He made his call explicitly clear in a retreat two years later, again during Eucharistic adoration, where he asked me to be his bride and to become a consecrated virgin. As soon as I said yes, I was filled with immense joy and consolation. From there, I began the process of formation, learning more about consecrated virginity and the history of the Archdiocese of Toronto, as well as the Lord beginning the process of healing wounds in my heart. He has given me intercessors and friends who have journeyed with me through this process. He continues to pursue my heart through moments of prayer and intimacy in Eucharistic adoration and in the Mass, and shows me that He is calling me to be a sign and witness of the life that all are called to. A life of deep intimacy and love for Jesus in this life and in the next.

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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 consecrated virginity or faithful single life, and for all who live these vocations with undivided hearts today. In the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, Amen. The peace of the Lord be with you.

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And with your spirit.

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And as we have placed ourselves before the Lord on this Friday, we again recall our own weakness, our own need for God's guidance. 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. And let us pray. Grant we pray, Almighty God, that we who have come to know the grace of the Lord's redemption resurrection may through the love of the Spirit ourselves rise to newness of life. True, O Lord, Jesus Christ, your Son, who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit, God for ever and ever. Amen.

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A reading from the Acts of the Apostles. Saul, still breathing threats and murder against the disciples of the Lord, went to the high priest and asked him for letters to the synagogues at Damascus, so that if he found any who belonged to the way, men or women, he might bring them bound to Jerusalem. Now, as he was going along and approaching Damascus, suddenly a light from heaven flashed around him. He fell to the ground and heard a voice saying to him, Saul, Saul, why do you persecute me? He asked, Who are you, Lord? The reply came, I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting. But get up and enter the city, and you will be told what you are to do. The men who were traveling with him stood speechless, because they heard the voice but saw no one. Saul got up from the ground, and though his eyes were open, he could see nothing. So they led him by the hand and brought him into Damascus. For three days he was without sight, and neither ate nor drank. Now there was a disciple in Damascus named Ananias. The Lord said to him in a vision, Ananias, he answered, Here I am, Lord. The Lord said to him, Get up and go to the street called strait. And at the house of Judas look for a man of Tarsus named Saul. At this moment he is praying, and he has seen in a vision a man a man named Ananias come in and lay his hands on him, so that he may regain his sight. But Ananias answered, Lord, I have heard from many about this man, how much evil he has done to your saints in Jerusalem, and here he has authority from the chief priests to bind all who invoke your name. But the Lord said to Ananias, Go, for he is an instrument whom I have chosen to bring my name before the Gentiles and kings and before the people of Israel. I myself will show him how much he must suffer for the sake of my name. So Ananias went and entered the house. He laid his hands on Saul and said, Brother Saul, the Lord Jesus, who appeared to you on your way here, has sent me so that you may regain your sight and be filled with the Holy Spirit. And immediately something like scales fell from his eyes, and his sight was restored. Then he got up and was baptized, and after taking some food, he regained his strength. For several days Saul was with the disciples in Damascus, and immediately he began to proclaim Jesus in the synagogues, saying, Jesus is the Son of God, the Word of the Lord.

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And praise the Lord all you nation extol him all you people and my flesh and drink, my blood, live in me, I love Sash, Alleluia, Alleluia, Alleluia.

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A reading from the Holy Gospel according to John. The Jews disputed among themselves, saying, How can this man give us his flesh of to eat? So Jesus said to them, Very truly I tell you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you have no life in you. Those who eat my flesh and drink my blood have eternal life, and I raise them up on the last day, for my flesh is true food, and my blood is true drink. Those who eat my flesh and drink my blood abide in me, and I in them, just as the living Father sent me, and I live because of the Father. So whoever eats me will live because of me. This is the bread that came down from heaven, not like that which your ancestors ate and they died. But the one who eats this bread will live forever. Jesus said these things while he was teaching in the synagogue at Capernaum, the gospel of the Lord. Jesus gets right to the core of our faith, to the Eucharist. And this is the great mystery in the church, of course. The Eucharist is the center, the highlight of our mass, which we celebrate every day. And it is a dogma, it's a mystery, and it sets us apart from other Christian faith traditions that we say this, when we celebrate the Eucharist, this is the bread becomes the body of Christ, and the blood will become the mind becomes the blood of Christ. Transubstantiation. But it's a mystery. We can write whole books about it. Like I said, Thomas Aquinas wrote a lot about it, but it's still a mystery. We accept it or we do not. But if we accept, just like in Jesus' time, right after this passage, there were a lot of people who said, we cannot accept this, I'm out of here. And his words, if we would be there today, that also would be very challenging. But of course, we're 2,000 years later, and we know that those words are true, and we have all kinds of Eucharistic miracles. But we know that those words are true. And also because of that, because we do eat the body and blood of Christ, it has called so many to the faith. And today we have uh at the start of the Mass we have this reflection about someone discerning the vocation to uh to the consecrated life as a virgin, and someone who's also drawn by the Eucharist and to pray and to live that life, live a pure life just for Christ, to accept Christ as the bride. And this we all receive this call in many different ways. Of course, the the body of saints, so many saints in our church, same thing. We accept that body and blood of Christ, the real life. The real life is found in the Eucharist and nowhere else. And it sets us apart from most people in the world. And we don't have to be afraid of it to be Christians, to profess our faith. Although some people might talk about us in negative ways, but this is the center of our faith, and we don't have to be afraid of it. Amen. So today we reflect on the vocation of consecrated virgin and the single life lived in dedication to God, a heart undivided for the Lord. May those called to this path find fulfillment in total gift of self. We pray for all those named in the Ordaily TV Mass Prayer Intention Book, especially those submitted to the prayers for vocations. May God strengthen them in discernment and fill them with courage. We pray to the Lord. We pray for vocations to consecrated virginity and the dedicated single life, that they may offer their hearts undivided to the Lord in prayer and service. We pray to the Lord. 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. For Christians living their lives as models of Christ's love, by their word and actions, they may draw others to the gospel through compassion, forgiveness, and joy. We pray to the Lord. Blessed Mary, model of undivided devotion, hear our prayers for those with hearts set solemn solely on the Lord. Carry them forward that they may shine as witnesses of consecrated love. Amen. Blessed are you, Lord God of all creation, for through your goodness we have received the bread we offer you, fruit of the earth and work of human hands. It will become for us the bread of life.

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Blessed we are forever.

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By the mystery of this water and wine, may we come to share in the divinity of Christ, who humbled himself to share in our humanity. Blessed are you, Lord God of all creation, for through your goodness will receive the wine we offer you, fruit of the vine, and work of human hands. It will become our spiritual drink. Thank you. Pray, my sisters and brothers, that my sacrifice and yours may be acceptable to God, the Almighty Father. Graciously sanctify these gifts, O Lord, we pray, and accepting the oblation of this spiritual sacrifice, make of us an eternal offering to you through Christ, O 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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Lift up your hearts. 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, Lord, but in this time above all, to lord 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 exalts in your praise, and even the heavenly powers with the angeletic host sing together the unending hymn of your glory as they acclaim.

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Holy, holy, holy Lord, God of hearts, heaven and earth are full of your glory. Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord.

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Make holy, therefore, these gifts we pray, by sending down your spirit upon them like the dofold, 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 you 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 or Pope, Francis or Bishop, the Order Bishops, the clergy, and the entire people you have called your own. Remember also our sisters and brothers 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, your 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. Through him and with him and in him, O God Almighty Father, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, O glory and honor is yours for ever and ever. Amen. At the Savior's command informed by divine teaching, we dare to say, O Father, who are 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 trespassed against us. And lead us not in 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 the 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 our peace and unity in accordance with your will, who live and reign forever and ever.

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Amen.

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The peace of the Lord be with you always. And with your spirit. And let us offer each other a sign of peace.

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Lamb of God, you take away the sins of the world.

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Behold the Lamb of God, behold him who takes away the sins of the world. Blessed are those called to the supper of the Lamb. Lord I am worthy that you should enter under my roof.

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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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The Lord be with you. And may Almighty God bless you. Father, Son, Holy Spirit. Amen. Go in peace, glorifying the Lord by your life.

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Thanks be to God.

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