Daily TV Mass Friday July 24, 2026

Fr. Michael Coutts, 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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In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. The grace and peace of our Lord Jesus Christ, the love of the Father, the friendship of the Holy Spirit be with you all. And with your spirit. Welcome to the celebration of the Daily TV Mass. I am Father Michael Coots. The televising of this Mass is made possible by a contribution from an anonymous donor from Newfoundland. The Mass is being offered in Thanksgiving for blessings received and healing for the deceased family members and for those involved in bringing the daily TV Mass to our families. Our thanks to our donor for making it possible for tens of thousands of faithful across Canada, the USA, and around the world to share in this celebration. Today we celebrate the feast of Saint Charbel Maklouf from Lebanon. This is a wonderful saint bringing peace to this troubled spot in a troubled country in our world today. Charbell was born in 1828 and he was devoted to the faith from very young. At the age of 20, he joined the Maronite Order. The Maronite Order was a group of monks founded in Aleppo in Syria and in Lebanon, following Saint Anthony the Hermit's tradition. He worked there for 25 years or more, and then at the age of 47, he asked for dispensation to live as a hermit. And so he went out and lived as a hermit, fasting, praying, and working, very much like the Benedictin order. He changed his name from Joseph Makluf to Charbell in honor of a second century martyr. Saint Charbel Maklouf, pray for us. As we begin this Eucharist, we pray for him, pray to God that through the intercession of Charbell we may be forgiven. You were sent to heal the contrite, 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. We humbly ask you, Almighty God, that by the intercession of blessed Sharbel Makluf, you may multiply your gifts among us and order our days in peace. We make this prayer through Christ our Lord.

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A reading from the book of the prophet Jeremiah. I will take you, one from a city and two from a family, and I will bring you to Zion. I will give you shepherds after my own heart, who will feed you with knowledge and understanding. And when you have multiplied and increased in the land, in those days, says the Lord, they shall no longer say, The Ark of the Covenant of the Lord, it shall not come to mind or be remembered or missed, nor shall another one be made. At that time Jerusalem shall be called the throne of the Lord, and all nations shall gather to it, to the presence of the Lord in Jerusalem, and they shall no longer be stuck no longer stubbornly follow their own evil will. The word of the Lord.

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When anyone hears the word of the kingdom and does not understand it, the evil one comes and snatches away what is sown in the heart and what is sown on the path. For what was sown on rocky ground, this is the one who hears the word of God and immediately receives it with joy. Yet such a person has no root but endures only for a while. And when trouble or persecutions arise on account of the word, the person immediately falls away. As for what was sown among thorns, this is the one who hears the word of God, but cares of the world and the lure of wealth, choke the word and it yields nothing. But what were as for what was sown on good soil, this is the one who hears the word and understands it, who indeed bears fruit and yields in one case a hundredfold, in another sixty, and in another thirty. The Gospel of the Lord. The ministry of Jesus grew gradually from a lowly shepherd in an unknown village called Nazareth. He turned to be a famous preacher, known all over Galilee. People praised him, people admired him, people followed him, and because of that, they would say he preaches with authority. Unlike our scribes and Pharisees, he does works of wonder. And naturally, because of all that, there was opposition. There was opposition from three different places. One was from his own village, the people of Nazareth itself. And this is best explained by the scapegoat theory. Now the scapegoats were the theory went back to Moses when two goats were brought before the altar. One goat was placed in the middle of the congregation or the people, and they would come and lay hands on the goat, placing all their sins on the goat. And then the goat was allowed to go into the wilderness, taking all their sins with them. And when it went out, it could either live or it could be devoured by animals. The other goat was sacrificed as a propitiation for the sins of the people. But René Girard, a modern, late modern French philosopher, explains it in a different way. He says basically, when a person comes from a small village and he is famous, everybody wants a piece of the action. They will all claim to know him, to be related to him, to grow up with him, and they want a piece of that fame. But in Jesus' case, he wasn't there for fame. He wasn't there for adulation. He came to preach the kingdom of God. And when they saw that they were not getting this adulation, they tried to destroy him. And we are told that they took him to the top of the cliff in Nazareth and tried to throw him off. And he escaped from the middle of them. But this scapegoat theory is prevalent even in our day-to-day. Sometimes within a family itself, when we find that somebody in the family does so well, we are so proud, we accept them. But we find that that glory and that fame doesn't come down to us, we try to pull him or pull her down. The second group of people that were anxious to fight against Jesus, to oppose Jesus, were the scribes and the Pharisees. Now the scribes and the Pharisees were really good people. They observed the law very meticulously, but they began to put the law above everything. The law was an end in itself. And Jesus said to them, you know, in Matthew chapter 5, he says, I didn't come to abolish the law, but I came to keep them right down to every dot on the eye and every T that is crossed. But I don't make the law the end of everything. A person is always above the law in this sense that he is more precious, she is more precious, because they are made in the image and likeness of God. And the scribes and the Pharisees just could not understand that. And so they fought against Jesus. And finally, the people that were opposing Jesus himself very strangely were his own disciples. If you read Mark's Gospel, there are 16 chapters. The first eight chapters you find that Jesus has got problems with his very disciples. Chapter after chapter after chapter, Jesus says to them, You have eyes but you don't see. You have ears but you don't hear. You just filter them out according to your own likes and your own dislikes. And you have hearts that are shriveled up. I remember my novice master telling me, have an open heart. We don't want to have a heart that it looks like a shriveled prune. If you have a heart like that, you better leave and go somewhere else and unload watermelons on the dock. Very strange, very harsh, but very true. So why did we have these people who listen to the word of God acting in such a way? We find their example in the gospel today. There are the seed and the sower. The seed is the word of God. It is the word that says salvation is for everybody. It is the message that says, the kingdom come, the will of God be done. And that meant love one another, forgive one's enemies, keep one's eyes and heart open to the needy in our society. So this is the word of God. But finally we find that the word of God was Jesus Himself. He was not only the messenger, but the message himself, and he was rejected. And he gives that example of a seed that was sown in a field. And there are three different ways of reacting to it: rejection, indifference, and acceptance. In the gospel, we find that the seed falls on rocky ground, and people are so happy to receive it, but they don't have stamina. We have that so very often. You preach in novena, you go and give a mission and say, oh my gosh, it is so good. But by a week later, we've forgotten even what the message was all about. And Jesus speaks about it as the devil that comes and robs the seed from the heart of people. And if you find Mark's gospel, Jesus is constantly doing exorcisms, casting out demons, so that they will not be there to prevent the message of Jesus going out to the people. The second is one with indifference. People love the message of God, they accept it, but they are so caught up with all their own worries and problems, their cell phones, the local media, the local gossip, we've got responsibilities. You find that people who are the busiest are usually the people that you can ask to do things. The people who do not have anything that is stable and constant will always have excuses not to accept the word of God. And finally, those that are on good soil, people who are willing to accept the word of God. And the word of God is such that it will come into our hearts according to the talent and skill God has given us. God has given us some of ten talents, others five, and others just one. And we shouldn't condemn people who do not accept the word of God the way you and I accept the word of God, because we only accept it to the ability that God has given us. And when we accept it, we can let the blossom, the fruit blossom, and the word of God become true. Thy kingdom come, thy will be done. God bless you all. Would you join me now as we bring our prayers of the faithful? For all those in our daily TV Mass Prayer Intention book, we pray to the Lord.

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Lord hear our prayer.

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On this feast of Saint Sharbel Maklouf, we pray for the people of Lebanon, especially the people not involved in either Israel or Hezbollah conflict, but people who are just bombed out of their shelters, their homes, and their factories. We pray to the Lord.

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Lord hear our prayer.

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As a community prayer, let us give thanksgiving for parents and elders like St. Joachim and Anne, whose feast we celebrate during this month of July, who nurture faith and family across generations with quiet strength. We pray to the Lord. For Pope Leo's intention for the month of July, let us pray that we may gain, we may again learn how to discern, to know how to choose paths of life, and reject everything that leads away from Christ and the gospel. We pray to the Lord. Lord, grant food and shelter to those who lack that today, and peace and charity to those who are fortunate to enjoy these gifts. We make this prayer through Christ our Lord. Blessed are you, Lord, God of all creation, for through your goodness we have this 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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And water may become to share in the divinity of Christ, who humbled himself to share in our humanity.

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Blessed are you, Lord, God of all creation, for through your goodness we have this wine we offer you. Fruit of the wine and work of human hands, it will become for us our spiritual drink.

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Lord God, be pleased to accept these gifts that we offer to you with humble and contrite heart.

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For the praise and glory of God.

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Receive, O Lord, the offerings placed on this altar in commemoration of Saint Sharbel Makluf, so that as you brought him glory, you may, through these sacred mysteries, grant us your pardon. We make this prayer through Christ our Lord. 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, through Christ our Lord. For as on the festival of St. Charbel Makloof, you bid your church rejoice, so too you strengthen her by the example of his holy life, teach her by his words of preaching, and keep us safe in answer to his prayers. And so with the company of angels and saints, we sing the hymn of your praise as without end we acclaim.

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

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Make holy, therefore, these gifts by sending down your spirit upon them like the dew fall, 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 the chalice 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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When we eat this bread and drink this cup, we proclaim your death, O Lord, 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, Francis, our Bishop, all the clergy, and this entire people of God. 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, that with the Blessed Virgin Mary, Mother of God, with Blessed Joseph Espouse, with the Blessed Apostles, and with all with Sharbell Makloof, and with 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 with him and in him, O God Almighty Father, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, all glory and honor is yours for ever and ever.

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Amen.

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At the Savior's command, informed by divine teaching, we now 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, from every evil, graciously grant peace in our day, that by the help of your mercy we may be always free from sin, safe from all distresses. We await the blessed hope and the coming of our Savior, Jesus Christ. Lord Jesus Christ, you 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 a peace and unity in accordance with your will, who live and reign forever and ever. The peace of the Lord be with you always. And with your spirit. Let us share with one another a sign of this peace and friendship.

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You take away the sins of the world. Have mercy on us.

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Behold the Lamb of God, behold him who takes away the sins of the world. Blessed are those who are called to the supper of the Lamb. Lord, I am not worthy that you should enter under my roof, but only say the word, My soul shall be healed. May the body and blood of Christ bring us and all our dear ones unto life everlasting.

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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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Blessed is the servant whom the Lord finds watching when he comes. Amen. I say to you, he will put that servant in charge of his property. Let us pray. May partaking at the heavenly table, Almighty God, confirm and increase strength from on high in all those who celebrate the feast day of Saint Sharbel Maklouf, that we may preserve in integrity the gift of faith and walk in the path of salvation you trace for us through Christ our Lord. The Lord be with you and with your spirit. Go in the peace of Christ to love and serve the Lord and one another.

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Praise be to God.

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

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We have the Spain of God as Son. We have heard Jesus.