ANNOUNCER: From the historic
Loretto Abbey Chapel... With the kind cooperation
of the Toronto Catholic District School Board... The National Catholic
Broadcasting Council presents The Daily TV Mass. In the name of the Father
and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen. The grace and peace
of our Lord Jesus Christ, the love of the Father, the friendship of
the Holy Spirit be with you all. CONGREGATION:
And with your spirit. Welcome to the celebration of this Daily Televised Mass in the season of Lent. I am Fr. Michael Coutts The televising of this Mass
is made possible by a contribution
from three donors. The first is Margaret Geraghty from London, Ontario, for peace and joy in the
Forgeron and Geraghty families. In celebration for her
80th birthday today. A happy birthday to you. And in thanksgiving
for all the blessings she has received
through her life. The second is an anonymous donor
from North York, Ontario, for world peace. And the third is Jeanne Dallaire from Calgary, Alberta, in thanksgiving
for family blessings. For peace in the world and for victims of
the COVID-19 virus. Our thanks to the donors
for the gift of this Mass. As we celebrate this Eucharist,
we remember once again Isaiah calling us to fasting. Calling us to prayer and calling us to almsgiving. Let us ask the Lord,
give us those graces. You were sent to heal
the contrite of heart. Lord, have mercy. CONGREGATION:
Lord, have mercy. FR. MICHAEL COUTTS:
You came to call sinners. Christ, have mercy. CONGREGATION:
Christ, have mercy. FR. MICHAEL COUTTS:
You are seated at the right hand of the Father
to intercede for us. Lord, have mercy. CONGREGATION:
Lord, have mercy. May Almighty God
have mercy on us. Forgive us our sins and bring us
to everlasting life. - CONGREGATION: Amen.
- Let us pray. Almighty and ever-living God, look with compassion
on our weakness and ensure us your protection by stretching forth the
right hand of Your majesty through our Lord Jesus Christ,
Your Son, who lives and governs with You in the unity of the Holy Spirit. God, forever and ever. CONGREGATION:
Amen. A reading from the book
of the Prophet Isaiah. Thus says the Lord. If you remove the yoke
from among you, the pointing of the finger, the speaking of evil. If you offer your food
to the hungry and satisfy the needs
of the afflicted, then your light shall rise
in the darkness and your gloom be like
the noonday. The Lord will guide you
continually and satisfy your needs in
parched places and make your bones strong and you shall be like
a watered garden. Like a spring of water whose waters never fail. Your ancient ruins
shall be rebuilt. You shall raise up the
foundations of many generations. You shall be called the repairer
of the breach, the restorer of streets
to live in. If you refrain from trampling
the Sabbath from pursuing your own interests
on my holy day. If you call the Sabbath
a delight and the holy day of
the Lord honourable, if you honour it,
not going your own ways serving your own interests
or pursuing your own affairs then you shall take delight
in the Lord. And I will make you ride upon
the heights of the earth. I will feed you with the
heritage of your ancestor Jacob for the mouth of
the Lord has spoken. The word of the Lord. CONGREGATION:
Thanks be to God. # (Organ playing) # # Incline Your ear, O Lord # # And answer me # # For I am poor and needy # # Preserve my life # # For I am devoted to You # # Save Your servant # # Who trusts in You # # Teach me Your way, O Lord # # You are my God # # Be gracious to me, O Lord # # For to You # # Do I cry all day long # # Gladden the soul # # Of Your servant # # For to You, O Lord # # I lift up my soul # # For You, O Lord # # Are good and forgiving # # Abounding in steadfast love # # To all who call on You # # Give here, O Lord # # To my prayer # # Listen to my cry # # Of supplication # # (Organ playing) # # Praise to You, Lord # # King of eternal glory # # Praise to You, Lord # # King of eternal glory # # I do not wish
the sinner to die # # Says the Lord # # But you turn to me and live # # Praise to You, Lord # # King of eternal glory # The Lord be with you. CONGREGATION:
And with your spirit. A reading from the holy gospel
according to Luke. CONGREGATION:
Glory to You, O Lord. After healing a man
who was paralyzed, Jesus left the house
where He had been teaching and He saw a tax collector
named Levi sitting at the tax booths
and He said to him, "Follow me." And he got up, left everything
and followed Him. Then Levi gave a great banquet
for Him in his house and there was a large crowd
of tax collectors and others sitting
at the table with them. The Pharisees and the scribes
were complaining to His disciple,
"Why do you eat and drink with tax collectors
and sinners?" Jesus answered,
"Those who are well have no need of a physician but those who are sick do. I have come not to call
the righteous, but the sinners to repentance." The gospel of the Lord. CONGREGATION: Praise to You,
Lord Jesus Christ. We carry on today with Isaiah
speaking to us about prayer, fasting,
and almsgiving. And He speaks about fasting should have an internal change. Should have a metanoia. A change of not only
our behaviour, but of our very heart. Otherwise, it is a passing fancy
and a fad. And he speaks about it
in tangible ways. He speaks about taking the yoke out of,
off the neck of people. Freeing captives, sharing bread
with the hungry. And He says if you do this, then you will actually see
things happening in your life. And He goes into details
to explain it and that would be
so wonderful for us. He says you'll have
light in your life so that you and
I can make decisions about things that baffle us
and confuse us. It will strengthen your bones
and as I get older, believe me, I would be
very grateful for that. And it will also change the very land and the city in which you live in. And we have found out
that as we have kept these rules and regulation as we have kept these
laws of fasting, of prayer and almsgiving. Things have actually begun to,
improve ourselves in our society today. Gradually, things are opening. Restaurants and theatres
and museums. Non-essential items. We have been able to go
to gymnasiums, to hair salons. We're allowed to go to parks. We are allowed
to have parties together and in our church
we are so happy now that we don't have to register
in order to find a place within a church.
We can get back to the sacraments of the Eucharist, which we are
celebrating just now and the sacrament of
reconciliation. But more especially,
there are other sacraments which involve not only
the sacraments but also a celebration
afterwards. Baptisms and marriages
and funerals. And so many people have said
we are missing all that. But as we get out
of this virus situation, and as we continue
with our Lenten practices, we will actually see that we are
pretty safe nowadays. Will the virus get over,
not by any means. Will we have another variant?
Most probably. But we have realized
that we can live with it. Those who are vaccinated
and the anti-vaxxers, we have learned to live
with a certain amount of respect and my prayer and hope is that
we may even learn to love one another in spite
of our differences. And this comes because
of our practices, because we can control ourselves
through prayer, through fasting,
through almsgiving. Elderly people,
we find now can go out and get their dose, a second
dose, or a third dose, or a booster shot. We will soon find that this
virus will be more or less like living with
the flu pandemic. We will take our flu shots. We will take our booster shots
against the virus. Some have never
taken flu shots before and some will never take shots
against the virus. And yet, we manage
to survive together. We managed to live together
a life that we are called to. People say we want
to go back to normal. And what is the normal
all about? Do you really want to go from
nine to five jobs in which we are rushed to jobs
in traffic jams and then after rush our children
to different practices. You know, volleyball and soccer and piano practices, and judo
practices, and all this. Many of them said, "Thank God we
don't have to do that anymore." And we have learned
to live with one another, to respect one another in spite
of the differences. And Isaiah says all this comes
because our fasting has changed us from right
within ourselves. And then, he moves on.
Isaiah moves on from sacrifice, from fasting, from the prayers and almsgiving
to the Sabbath. And he says
remember the Sabbath. It is important that throughout
all these things that we go to the source
of everything and namely, that is God Himself. Throughout the Exodus experience
we realize that God was in charge. Every now and then
when they complain and they got angry during
the Exodus experience. God did not strike them down. God tolerated them. God allowed them to complain
and then God fed them with manna in the desert. If you go to Egypt now, if you go to
the Sinai Desert nowadays, you'll actually see manna. It's not that it
wasn't there before, but they saw in this the hand
and the finger of God that is caring for them. And that is why it is important
that we keep the Sabbath. It is important that we realize
that one day is the Lord's day and that we should rest from all
of the things that you and I have been doing in order that we
can give glory to God. And so, we come
to the gospel today where the disciples are
describing the Pharisees said to the disciples. "Why doesn't your master not
fast like all of us?" Jesus, in fact,
lived with the sinners and the tax collectors
and it was not good for a rabbi to do that. Jesus took delight in
their company. Jesus loved to eat with them. Jesus loved to say,
"Salvation is for all." And so, we come into 2022 and we still find scribes
and Pharisees. This time they're not
complaining that Jesus is eating with tax collectors
and sinners, they're complaining the
tax collectors and sinners are eating with Jesus. You and I go up for communion. When I go up to communion
and I hold the host in my hand and said, "Lord, I am not worthy that You should come
under my roof." And then, daily, I go up to
the Lord and receive it. It'll be pretty hypocritical
on my part after receiving the Lord
and saying I'm not worthy. Just to turn around and say,
"You and you and you cannot come up to communion because you're married and
you're divorced and remarried or they know what
they are doing. They are grown-ups.
Treat them like grown-ups. They know what the
Catholic Catechism is teaching. You and I have got
no right to be judge, jury, and executioner. And Pope Francis says
that quite clearly. Pope Francis has said, "You are
not to judge the other people." And where does
he learn this from? He learns it from Jesus Himself. When Peter went up
to Jesus and says, What's happening with
this guy called John? You know Your disciple? In John 21, Jesus says to Peter, you mind your own business.
You get your act together. And so, Jesus tells us
over here. We are called to salvation. Jesus finds His pleasure with
sinners and tax collectors and that is a blessing indeed
during the season of Lent. Let us pray together. For all those in the Daily
Televised Mass community who have been asked
to be included in our Prayer Intention Book. Especially for those
who are looking for a deeper awareness of God
in everyday life. We pray to the Lord. CONGREGATION:
Lord, hear our prayer. Loving and gracious God. Save Your people
and bless Your inheritance. We pray to the Lord. Lord, hear our prayer. Loving God, show Your love to
those who are suffering and open the eyes of their
vision to Your revelation. We pray to the Lord. CONGREGATION:
Lord, hear our prayer. Gracious and loving God, as we continue during
this season of Lent, grant us Your blessings and help us to be faithful to
our resolutions through Christ our Lord. CONGREGATION:
Amen. 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. CONGREGATION:
Blessed be God forever. Blessed are you,
Lord, God of all creation. For through Your goodness, we have this wine we offer You, fruit of the vine
and work of human hands. It will become for us
our spiritual drink. CONGREGATION:
Blessed be God forever. Lord God, be pleased
to accept these gifts that we offer to You with humble and with contrite hearts. Pray, my sisters, my brothers, that this our sacrifice
be acceptable to God, the Almighty Father. CONGREGATION:
May the Lord accept the sacrifice at your hands for the praise and glory
of His name, for our good and the good
of all His Holy Church. Accept, we pray, O Lord, the sacrifice of conciliation
and praise and grant that cleansed
by its working we may offer minds
pleasing to You through Christ, our Lord. CONGREGATION:
Amen. The Lord be with you. CONGREGATION:
And with your spirit. Lift up your hearts. CONGREGATION:
We lift them up to the Lord. Let us give thanks
to the Lord, our God. CONGREGATION:
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. For by Your gracious gift,
each year, Your faithful await
the sacred paschal feast with joy of minds made pure so that more eagerly
intent on prayer and on the works of charity and participating
in the mysteries by which they have been reborn. They may be led to
the fullness of grace that you bestow on
Your sons and daughters. And so, with the angels
and archangels with thrones and dominions and with all the hosts
and powers of Heaven, we sing the hymn of Your glory
as without end. We acclaim. # (Organ playing) # # Holy, Holy, # # Holy Lord # # God of Hosts # # Heaven and Earth are full # # Of Your glory # # Hosanna in the highest # # Blessed is he who comes # # In the name of the Lord # # Hosanna in the highest # You are indeed Holy, O Lord. The fount of all holiness. Make holy, therefore, - (Chimes ringing)
- these gifts we pray. By sending down
Your spirit upon them like the dewfall
so that they may become for us the Body and the 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." (Chimes ringing) 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." (Chimes ringing) # The mystery of faith # # We proclaim Your death,
O Lord # # And profess
Your resurrection # # Until You come again # 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 Francis, our Pope, Thomas, our Bishop. The bishops across Canada and 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,
her spouse, with the blessed Apostles,
and with all the Saints who have pleased You
throughout the ages. We may merit to be co-heirs
to eternal life and 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 # # All glory
and honour is Yours # # Forever and ever # # Amen # # Amen # # Amen # At the Saviour's command and formed 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 distress
as we await the blessed hope and the coming of our Saviour,
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 this Your church and graciously grant her
peace and unity in accordance with Your will who live and reign
forever and ever." CONGREGATION:
Amen. Peace of the Lord
be with you always. CONGREGATION:
And with your spirit. Let us share with this
sign of peace wherever you are. # (Organ playing) # # Lamb of God # # You take away the sins
of the world # # Have mercy on us # # Lamb of God # # You take away the sins
of the world # # Have mercy on us # # Lamb of God # # You take away the sins
of the world # # Grant us peace # 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
and my soul shall be healed. May the body and blood of Christ bring us all
to everlasting life. CONGREGATION:
Amen. (Chimes ringing) ANNOUNCER: Please join me now in
this act of spiritual communion. # Let us pray. Nourished with the gift of
heavenly life, we pray, O Lord, that what remains for us
a mystery in this present life may be for us a help
to reach eternity through Christ, our Lord. CONGREGATION:
Amen. The Lord be with you. CONGREGATION:
And with your spirit. May Almighty God bless you. The Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. CONGREGATION:
Amen. Go now in the peace of Christ. CONGREGATION:
Thanks be to God. # (Organ playing) # ANNOUNCER:
Our thanks to our donors for the gift of this Mass. # Take up your cross # # the Saviour said # # If you would # # My disciple be # # Deny yourself,
the world forsake # # And humbly follow
after me # # Take up your cross # # Let not its weight # # Fill your weak soul
with vain alarm # # His strength shall bear # # Your spirit up # # And brace your heart # # And nerve your arm.... #
