Daily TV Mass Wednesday June 24, 2026

Fr. John O'Brien, 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 am Father John O'Brien. The televising of this Mass is made possible by the contribution of an anonymous donor from Pointe Clair, Quebec. This Mass is offered for the intentions of the family, for those attending the Mass, and for those at home. We know that this television mass brings meaning to the lives of tens of thousands of faithful across Canada, the United States, and around the world. And they join with me in thanking our donor for the gift of this Mass. As we begin this Mass at the Manraza Jesuit Spiritual Center, we enter into a time of remembrance of the Canadian Martyrs as we prepare to celebrate the 100th anniversary of the Martyr Shrine in Midland, Ontario, this Saturday. In the days ahead, we will reflect on the lives of these martyrs who helped shape the early church in Canada. Today we reflect on St. René Goupil, whose quiet faith and courage point us to Christ, much like St. John the Baptist. Together let us remember, give thanks, and carry forward the witness of the martyrs in our lives today. In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, the love of God, and the communion of the Holy Spirit be with you all.

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And with your Spirit.

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Preparing ourselves to celebrate these sacred mysteries, let us first call to mind our sins. 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.

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Lord Lord have mercy.

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And may Almighty God have mercy on us, forgive us our sins and bring us to everlasting life. Amen. O God who raised up Saint John the Baptist to make ready a nation fit for Christ the Lord. Give your people, we pray, the grace of spiritual joys, and direct the hearts of all the faithful into the way of salvation and peace. Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son, who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit, God for ever and ever.

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Amen.

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A reading from the book of the Prophet Isaiah. Pay attention, you peoples from far away. The Lord called me before I was born. While I was in my mother's womb, he named me. He made my mouth like a sharp sword, in the shadow of his hand, he hid me. He made me a polished arrow, in his quiver he hid me away. And the Lord said to me, You are my servant, Israel, in whom I will be glorified. But I said, I have labored in vain, I have spent my strength for nothing and vanity, yet surely my cause is with the Lord, and my reward with my God. And now the Lord says, Who formed me in the womb to be his servant, to bring Jacob back to him, and that Israel might be gathered to him for I am honored in the sight of the Lord, and my God has become my strength. He says, It is too small a thing that you should be my servant to raise up the tribes of Jacob and to restore the survivors of Israel. I will give you as a light to the nations that my salvation may reach to the end of the earth. The word of the Lord.

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You discern my thoughts from You search up my path and my life and my quinter with my way for my hamster. For it was you for my mother. You need me together in my mother's woman for I am fearfully and wanted for him I press you, for I am wanting.

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Reading from the Acts of the Apostles, in those days, Paul said, God made David king of our ancestors. In his testimony about him, God said, I have found David, son of Jesse, to be a man after my heart, who will carry out all my wishes. Of this man's posterity, God has brought to Israel a Savior, Jesus, as he promised. Before his coming, John had already proclaimed a baptism of repentance to all the people of Israel, and as John was finishing his work, he said, What do you suppose that I am? I am not he. No, but one is coming after me. I am not worthy to untie the thong of the sandals on his feet, you descendants of Abraham's family, and others who fear God, to us the message of his salvation has been sent. The word of the Lord.

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A reading from the Holy Gospel according to Luke.

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Glory to you, O Lord.

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The time came for Elizabeth to give birth, and she bore a son. Her neighbors and relatives heard that the Lord had shown his great mercy to her, and they rejoiced with her. On the eighth day they came to circumcise the child, and they were going to name him Zechariah after his father. But his mother said, No, he is to be called John. They said to her, None of your relatives has this name. Then they began motioning to his father to find out what name he wanted to give him. He asked for a writing tablet and wrote, His name is John. And all of them were amazed. Immediately his mouth was opened and his tongue freed, and he began to speak, praising God. Fear came over all their neighbors, and all these things were talked about throughout the entire hill country of Judea. All who heard them pondered them and said, What then will this child become? For indeed the hand of the Lord was with him. The child grew and became strong in spirit, and he was in the wilderness until the day he appeared publicly to Israel. The Gospel of the Lord. Another saint, Saint René Goupil, the first of the eight Canadian or North American martyrs to give his life for the sake of the gospel, the same message, the same revelation that John the Baptist came to proclaim. René Goupil was a young man. He first joined the novitiate of the Society of Jesus or the Jesuits in France. He wanted to be a priest. But he had to leave due to his deafness. But later he joined the Jesuit mission going to Canada and served as a doné, which is a French word meaning given, given over to the mission. He was giving himself to assist in the missionary efforts of these first Jesuit missionaries. And he worked as a surgeon. He was trained in the medical field. And he spent time in Sillery near Quebec at the tiny mission helping to heal people who had been wounded or were ill. He wanted to give his life to God. He wanted his life to be a living flame, a witness to what he had seen and heard about Jesus. On one day in the year 1642, Rennie Goupil set out with Saint Isaac Jog and about 40 other companions, most of whom were Wendot or Hurons, including chiefs, on their canoes to make their way to St. Marie, the Jesuit mission in Wendake, the land of the Hurons. And along the way, their canoes were captured by the Iroquois, who were the enemies traditionally of the Wendot or Huron people. In that moment, Renigupil exclaimed before the ears of Father Jog and others that he loved it, he willed it, he, in a way, wanted this to happen. It was an extraordinary outpouring of faith and recognition of the value of his own way of the cross that the Lord was now asking him to carry. And what a cross it was. He was tortured, as was the custom at the time, in the Mohawk villages of what is now upstate New York. And as prisoners, he asked Father Jog if he could profess his vows. He was a layman, but he wanted to live and to die as a consecrated brother of the Society of Jesus. So Isaac Jog heard his vows of poverty, chastity, and obedience. And when the time came for him to give his life, he was killed after making the sign of the cross over the head of a Mohawk child with the blow of a hatchet. As he lay dying in the arms of Father Jog, his last words were on the holy name of Jesus. The first martyr of North America. And we remember him today as someone who lived his life in the line of John the Baptist. Just like we, brothers and sisters, we're all called to live out the prophetic dimension of our vocations as Christians, as baptized members into Christ. We are priest, prophet, and king. And John the Baptist, Jesus called him the greatest of the prophets. John the Baptist was a voice crying out in the wilderness. Renegupil was a voice crying out in the wilderness of our land, proclaiming the name of Jesus, hoping to spend his life as a witness, for this is the meaning of martyr. Above all, a martyr is simply a witness to what they believe, to what they know of Jesus Christ. And in this same way, we are called to give witness in our own ways, in our own states of life, in our own corners of the world, to what we have seen and heard. In a few days at Martyr Shrine, we will be proclaiming and celebrating a hundred years of the shrine, and we will be including the name of René Goupil, the first of the men who gave their lives for Christ in our land, baptizing the soil with their blood. And so, as we believe, the blood of the martyrs is the seed of the church, and we invite everyone to join us at Martyrs Shrine this Saturday for this celebration. But above all, in your own homes, workplaces, and families, to be bold in giving witness to the power and love of Jesus Christ. Please join us now as together we pray the Apostles' Creed. I believe in God, the Father Almighty, creator of heaven and earth, and in Jesus Christ, his only Son, our Lord, who was conceived by the Holy Spirit, born of the Virgin Mary, suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified and died and was buried. He descended into hell. On the third day he rose again from the dead. He ascended into heaven and is seated at the right hand of God, the Father Almighty. From there he will come to judge the living and the dead. I believe in the Holy Spirit, the Holy Catholic Church, the communion of saints, the forgiveness of sins, the resurrection of the body, and life everlasting. Amen. Let us now bring our petitions before the Lord. We pray for our whole church, especially the Church in Canada, which is the heirs and lives the spiritual legacy of our great Canadian martyrs. We pray that we may be fruitful witnesses to the call of Christ to preach the gospel to all nations. We pray to the Lord.

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Lord hear our prayer.

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For all those in our daily TV Mass Prayer Intentions book, we pray to the Lord.

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Lord hear our prayer.

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Heavenly Father, we lift up these and all our prayers to you on this day, that through the intercession of the Holy Canadian Martyrs and St. John the Baptist, you may hear them and answer them according to your wisdom, your goodness, and your mercy through Christ our Lord. We place these offerings on your altar, O Lord, to celebrate with fitting honor the nativity of him who both foretold the coming of the world's Savior and pointed him out when he came, who lives and reigns forever and ever. Amen. The Lord be with you. And in your spirit. Lift up your hearts. We lift the mind of the Lord. Let us give thanks to the Lord our God. It is right and just. 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, through Christ our Lord. In his precursor, Saint John the Baptist, we praise your great glory, for you consecrated him for a singular honor among those born of women. His birth brought great rejoicing, even in the womb he leapt for joy at the coming of human salvation. He alone of all the prophets pointed out the Lamb of Redemption. And to make holy the flowing waters, he baptized the very author of baptism, and was privileged to bear him supreme witness by the shedding of his blood. And so with the powers of heaven, we worship you constantly on earth, and before your majesty without end we acclaim. 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. The mystery of faith.

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When we heat this breath and drink this, we proclaim your tattoos until you come.

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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 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. 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. For the kingdom, the power, and the 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. Blessed are those who are called to the supper of the Lamb. Lord, I am your word, and you should enter into my room.

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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. Having feasted at the banquet of the Heavenly Lamb, we pray, O Lord, that finding joy in the nativity of Saint John the Baptist, your church may know as the author of her rebirth, the Christ whose coming John foretold, who lives and reigns for ever and ever.

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Amen.

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

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Thanks be to God.

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

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We gather, we stay in the Father Son. We gather with Jesus his son. We gather we faith with the spirit of God. We gather together as God. We offer.