Daily TV Mass Wednesday June 3, 2026

Fr. Gustave Ineza, OP

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 Gustav Ineza. The televising of this Mass is made possible by the contributions from three donors. The first is the Diaz family of Scarborough, Ontario, offered in loving memory of their father, Eno Diaz, who passed away on March 27th, 2023. We pray for the repose of his soul and for God's blessings and good health upon the Diaz family. The second is the Estanislao family of Dubai, UAE, offered in Thanksgiving and in loving memory of their departed departed souls of the Estanislao and Mendones families. The third is the Ugandan Catholic community of Toronto in thanksgiving for the continuation of the Daily TV Mass. May the Holy Spirit that inspired the Ugandan martyrs sweep this world into faith, love of God, and fellow men. Our thanks to our donors for the gift of this Mass. In the name of the Father and of the Son and the Holy Spirit. The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ and 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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Dear brothers and sisters, today the church commemorates the matters of Uganda. And we will entrust ourselves to their prayers, asking for God's forgiveness. Lord have mercy. Christ have mercy. Lord have mercy. May the 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. O God, who have made the blood of martyrs the seed of Christians, mercifully grant that the field which is your church, watered by the blood shed by Saint Charles Rwanga and his companions, may be fertile and always yield you an abundant harvest. Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son, who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God forever and ever.

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Amen.

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A reading from the second letter of Paul to Timothy, from Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus, by the will of God. For the sake of promise of life that is in Christ Jesus, to Timothy, my beloved child, grace, mercy, and peace, whom I worship with a clear conscience as my ancestors did. When I remember you constantly in my prayers, night and day. For this reason, I remind you to rekindle the gift of God that is within you through the laying on of my hand. For God did not give us a spirit of cowardness, but rather a spirit of power and of love and of self-discipline. Do not be ashamed then of the testimony about our Lord or of me, his prisoner, but join with me in the suffering for the gospel, relying on the power of God, who served us and called us with a holy calling, not according to our works, but according to his own purpose and grace. This grace was given to us in Christ Jesus before the ages began. But it has now been revealed through the appearing of our Savior Christ Jesus, who abolished death and brought life and immortality to light through the gospel. For this gospel, I was appointed a herald and an apostle and a teacher. And for this reason, I suffer as I do, but I am not ashamed. For I know the one in whom I have put my trust, and I am sure that he is able to guard until that day what I have entrusted to him. The word of the Lord.

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Whoever believes in me will not die forever.

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And with your spirit.

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Some Sadducees who say there is no resurrection came to Jesus and asked him a question, saying, Teacher, Moses wrote for us that if a man's brother dies, leaving a wife but no child, the man shall marry the widow and raise up children for his brother. There were seven brothers. The first married and when he died left no children. And the second married her and died, leaving no children. And the third, likewise, none of the seven left children. Last of all, the woman herself died. In the resurrection, whose wife will she be? For the seven had married her. Jesus said to them, Is not this the reason you are wrong, that you know neither the scriptures nor the power of God? For when they rise from the dead, they neither married nor are given in marriage, but are like angels in heaven. And as for the dead being raised, have you not read in the book of Moses, in the story about the bush, how God said to him, I am the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob. He is God not of the dead, but of the living. You are quite wrong. The Gospel of the Lord. Dear brothers and sisters, in today's readings we hear a powerful call to fidelity, courage, and hope. In the second letter to Timothy, second epistle to Timothy, St. Paul writes, I remind you to rekindle the gift of God that is within you. For God did not give us a spirit of fear, but of power and love and self-control. And in the gospel, according to Mark, Jesus proclaims that God is not a God of the dead, but of the living. These words speak directly to the witness we celebrate in the Ugandan martyrs, a witness rooted in life, courage, and deep dignity. But to truly understand their courage, we must begin even before their encounter with the gospel. The people of Buganda, long before the arrival of Christianity, lived within a rich and structured society. Many British anthropologists have written many books on that tradition. They had systems of governance, moral codes, religious beliefs, and a deep sense of community and identity. Their traditions were not empty. They were filled with meaning, discipline, and a search for truth. This is very important to point out before we go further. Because sometimes history is told in a way that forgets the dignity that was already there. The Ugandan people were not waiting passively for meaning. They already possessed courage, loyalty, and a sense of the sacred. They were not created by the gospel. Rather, the gospel encountered them, elevated them, and brought them into a new light. This is why St. Paul's words become so striking, rekindle the gift. They already possessed courage. They had that gift. The gift was already there: courage, conviction, and a readiness to give one's life for what is true. And when the gospel was preached, that gift was not erased. It was transformed and it was intensified. We see this clearly in the story of the martyrs. They were not people who suddenly became brave. They were already capable of bravery, but they were but when they encountered Christ, their courage found its ultimate meaning. At a certain moment, these young men, pages in the royal court, were faced with the profound choice to follow Christ or to remain within their traditional religious settings and cultural systems, as defined by the authority of the king. This was not a simple decision. It was not rejection of their people. It was a deeper discernment. Where is the ultimate truth? Where is life? King Muanga II of Buganda saw their decision as disloyalty. In his eyes, allegiance to the kingdom and its traditions was absolute. There could not be any other king. And you can understand his fear. He lived in a time when foreign missionaries were often connected directly or indirectly to colonial expansion from Western countries in Africa. His concern was not irrational. History would later show that such fears were justified in many parts of Africa. And we have to remember also that his grandfather was in the same state. He had the same fear. A few years before the death of the martyrs of Uganda, the grandfather of King Mwanga killed almost 1,000 Muslims because he was scared of the influence of the Egyptian Muslim merchants to his kingdom. And yet, even within this tension, his clash of loyalties, the courage of the martyrs shines. We cannot put that in doubt. Take the example of Kizito, the youngest among them. He was only a boy, about 13, 14. And yet, when faced with death, he did not run away. Tradition tells us that when they were brought to Namugongo, where they were killed, he asked to be placed closer to the flames so that he might die for Christ more quickly. Where does such courage come from? It is not born in a single moment. It is rooted in the people who already knew what it meant to stand firm, to endure, to belong to something greater than themselves. The gospel did not create that strength, it revealed its deepest purpose. This is why we must be careful not to misunderstand their story. The conflict in them was not between a civilized faith and a primitive culture. It was something far more profound in them. A meeting between a deeply rooted human dignity and the radical call of Christ. The martyrs did not reject their people. They fulfilled the deepest longing of their people, the longing for truth, for justice, for life that does not end. And here we return to the gospel. When the Sadducees question Jesus about the resurrection, they are trapped in the limited understanding of life. They cannot imagine that life could be greater than what they see. But Jesus responds, God is not the God of the dead, but of the living. The martyrs understood this. First with death, they chose life, true life. They believed that fidelity to Christ was not the end of their existence, but its fulfillment. And their fidelity was not a rebellion for its own sake, it was a response to a greater love. They discerned that in Christ they were not losing their identity. They were receiving it in fullness. And so, dear brothers and sisters, what does this mean for us today? We too are called to rekindle the gift. We may not face the same dramatic choices, but we live in a world full of competing royalties, culture, success, comfort, fear of rejection. Like the martyrs, we are asked, what is your ultimate allegiance? Their story also invites us to respect and honor the cultures and traditions of peoples. Faith does not destroy what is good, it fulfills it. The courage, the dignity, and the death of the Ugandan people were not erased by the gospel. They were brought to completion. Finally, the matters remind us that true courage is not loud or violent. It is quite steadfast and rooted in love. It is the courage of a young boy like Kizito. It is the courage of the people who, even before knowing Christ, knew how to stand firm and who in Christ discovered why. May their witness inspire us to live without fear, to remain faithful in all circumstances, and to trust that the God we follow is not a God of the dead, but of the living. Amen. Now, dear brothers and sisters, let us bring our prayers and petitions to God. For the church, that she may always rekindle the gift of faith in her members and bear courageous witness to Christ in every culture and time. We pray to the Lord. For all peoples of the world, especially those who strive to live with dignity and fidelity to truth, that their cultures may be respected and enriched by the light of the gospel. We pray to the Lord. For ourselves, that inspired by the courage of the Ugandan martyrs, especially Charles Wanga, St. Kisito, we may remain faithful in our daily lives and trust in the God of the living. We pray to the Lord.

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Lord, give our prayers.

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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 prayers.

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During this month of the Sacred Heart of Jesus, let us pray for healing in families that Christ's mercy may renew our hearts and restore our relationships. We pray to the Lord.

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Lord, hear our prayers.

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All these prayers and those that remain in our hearts, we bring them to God and we ask God to grant them through Christ our Lord.

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Amen.

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For through your goodness you 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. Blessed are you, Lord God of all creation, for through your goodness you have received the wine we offer you, fruit of the wine and work of human hands. It will become a spiritual drink. Pray, brothers and sisters, that my sacrifice and yours may be acceptable to God the Almighty Father. Let us pray. We offer you sacrifice, O Lord, humbly praying that as you granted the blessed martyrs grace to die rather than sin, so you may bring us to minister at your altar in dedication to you alone 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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Lift up your hearts. Let us give thanks to the Lord our God. It is right and just truly right and just our duty and our salvation, always and everywhere, to give you thanks, Lord Holy Father, Almighty and Eternal God. For the blood of your blessed matters, Charles Swanga and his companions, poured out like Christ to glorify your name, shows forth your marvelous works, by which in our weakness you perfect your power, and on the feeble bestow strength to bear you witness through Christ our Lord. Amen. And so with the powers of heaven, we worship you constantly on earth, and before you, your majesty, without end, we acclaim.

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Holy, holy, holy God of oast of your glory.

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Make holy therefore these gifts we pray by sending down your spirit upon them like the dew for, so that they may become for us the body and blood of our Lord Jesus Christ. At the time he was betrayed and entered willing into his passion, he took bread, and giving thanks broke it, and gave it to his disciples, saying, Take these 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 these all of you and drink from it, for this is the chalice of my blood, the blood of the new and eternal colour. Which will be ordered for you and for many, for the forgiveness of sins. These in memory of me. The mystery of faith.

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We proclaim your death on hold 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 child of salvation, giving thanks that you have held us worthy to be in your presence and minister to you. Humble, 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 us 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 as Pauls, with the blessed Apostles, Charles Ranga and his companions, and all the saints who are pleased you throughout the ages, we may marry to be choired 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, our glory and honor is yours forever and ever.

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Amen.

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At the Savior's command and formed 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. 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 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. Let us offer each other the sign of peace.

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You take away the sins of the world. Have mercy on us. 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. I'm not worthy of the enterprise.

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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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As we celebrate the victory of your holy martyrs, may what help them to endure torment, we pray. Make us, in the face of trials, steadfast in faith and in charity 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 the Almighty God bless you, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.

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Amen.

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Our Mass is ended. Let us go and glorify the Lord by our lives.

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Thanks be to God.

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