The readings for this homily: https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/0113-memorial-hilary.cfm

Father Gabe Cillo, MIC, explains a truth so foundational that everything in the Christian life depends on it: Jesus Christ is truly God. Not partly divine, not a created being, not “like” God — but fully God and fully man.

Father Gabe reflects on how the Church has defended this truth from the earliest centuries, especially against the Arian heresy, which claimed that the Son was created and therefore not truly God. The Church rejected this error because salvation itself depends on Christ’s divinity. If Jesus were not God, He could not forgive sins, defeat demons, give us the Eucharist, or reconcile humanity with the Father. As Scripture proclaims, “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God” (Jn 1:1; NABRE).

This truth gives believers confidence and courage. When we make the Sign of the Cross, invoke the holy name of Jesus, or adore Him in the Eucharist, we are not addressing a mere creature — we are worshiping God Himself. The demons recognize His authority because it is divine. Every knee bends at the name of Jesus because His name is the name of God.

Father Gabe reminds us that the Eucharist, salvation, and every Sacrament only have power because Christ is God. Holding fast to this truth strengthens faith, deepens worship, and renews our trust in the Lord who alone can save.

To grow in understanding of how Christ’s divinity works through the Sacraments, explore Understanding the Sacraments, available at ShopMercy.org. Watch the full homily on YouTube and on Divine Mercy Plus, where Catholic content is free, ad-free, and faithful to Church teaching.

The readings for this homily: https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/011226.cfm

Father Daniel Klimek, PhD reflects on the beginning of Christ’s public ministry and the radical call of discipleship. When Jesus calls the first apostles, He does not simply invite admiration, but demands surrender. Peter leaves his nets behind—his livelihood, his security, his safety—to follow Christ. Those nets, Fr. Daniel explains, symbolize the attachments and “safety nets” that often keep us from deeper freedom in God.

Discipleship always requires sacrifice. Christ asks for totality, not partial allegiance. “You cannot serve both God and mammon” (Mt 6:24; NABRE). Idols must be broken so that Jesus may take first place in the heart. Yet this surrender is not rooted in fear, but in love. God desires intimacy, the love of a divine Bridegroom who wants the whole heart of His beloved.

Father Daniel reminds us that true discipleship is not merely intellectual. The apostles were transformed because they spent time with Jesus—resting in His presence, listening, and being sanctified by Him. That same presence remains with us today in the Holy Eucharist. In Eucharistic adoration, Christ heals anxiety, grants supernatural peace, and draws souls into deeper friendship with Him.

Even fatigue before the Blessed Sacrament is not wasted. Resting in Christ’s presence is still prayer. As Scripture assures us, “Come to me, all you who labor and are burdened, and I will give you rest” (Mt 11:28; NABRE). Time given to Jesus is never lost—it is the sacrifice that forms true disciples.

To grow in understanding of how Christ works through the Sacraments, explore Understanding the Sacraments, available at ShopMercy.org. Watch the full homily on YouTube, where it is also available ad-free on Divine Mercy Plus, offering faithful Catholic content.

The readings for this homily: https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/123125.cfm

Father Chris Alar, MIC, confronts a hard but urgent truth drawn from Sacred Scripture and the teaching authority of the Church: the Antichrist is not only a future figure, but a present spirit at work in the world. Reflecting on the First Letter of John, Fr. Chris explains that Scripture speaks of both a singular Antichrist still to come and many “antichrists” already active—those who have departed from Christ by rejecting His Church (1 Jn 2:18–19; NABRE).

This deception is subtle. It often disguises itself as independence, spirituality without authority, or self-made salvation. Yet the Catechism warns that before Christ’s return, the Church must endure a final trial marked by religious deception that offers false solutions at the price of apostasy (Catechism of the Catholic Church §675). To deny the Church established by Christ is to deny Christ Himself, even when His name is still spoken.

Father Chris reminds us that the Church is not man-made, but God-made—founded by Christ, entrusted to the Apostles, and preserved through apostolic authority (Mt 16:18; NABRE). Though imperfect in her human members, she remains divinely protected in her mission. Like Noah’s Ark, the Church may feel uncomfortable at times, but outside of it there is only drowning.

The answer to confusion is not retreat, but fidelity. Through Baptism, Confirmation, and the Eucharist, God sustains His remnant and strengthens them to remain faithful witnesses. Evil has already been defeated, but souls are still at stake. Our task is not fear, but perseverance—praying, teaching, and living the truth so that others may return to Christ through His Church.

“Anyone who knows God listens to us” (1 Jn 4:6; NABRE).

To deepen your understanding of the Sacraments Christ gave His Church, explore Understanding the Sacraments at ShopMercy.org.

The readings for this homily: https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/123025.cfm

The mystery of Christmas overturns every illusion of self-salvation. God does not wait for humanity to climb back to Him. He comes down.

Father Anthony Gramlich, MIC, draws us into this central truth of the Incarnation: Fallen humanity cannot raise itself by its own efforts. Grace is not something we generate. Redemption begins with divine humility.

The world repeatedly offers a different promise — especially in modern spiritual movements — that we can elevate ourselves through technique, effort, or enlightenment. But Scripture reveals the opposite. Because of sin, humanity cannot lift itself to God. Instead, God lowers Himself to lift us. As St. Paul writes, Christ “emptied himself, taking the form of a slave” (Phil 2:7; NABRE). Born in poverty and obscurity, rejected by the world, Jesus enters fully into our human condition — without sin — in order to heal it from within.

Father Anthony traces this saving pattern through salvation history itself. Humanity fell through the wood of the tree in Eden, and humanity is raised through the wood of the Cross. God is born on wood, works with wood, and dies on wood so that what once led us away from Heaven becomes the instrument that brings us back. Christmas is already pointing toward Calvary, and Calvary toward resurrection.

This mystery demands proclamation. The angels announced it. The shepherds ran to see it. Anna spoke of it to all who awaited redemption. Christmas is not meant to remain silent or sentimental. It is the celebration of a God who acts, a God who saves, and a God who does for us what we cannot do for ourselves. To speak about Christmas rightly is to speak about Jesus Christ — the One who came down so that we might be raised up by grace.

“Though he was in the form of God… he humbled himself” (Phil 2:6a & 8a; NABRE).

The readings for this homily: https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/123025.cfm

Father Chris Alar, MIC reflects on the coming Feast of the Presentation of the Lord and the Purification of Mary — a mystery often misunderstood, and sometimes misused, to challenge the Church’s teaching on Our Lady. What appears, at first glance, to be a ritual of purification reveals instead a profound lesson in obedience, humility, and grace.

Mary did not submit to the law because she was sinful. Her purification was legal, not moral — a requirement of Mosaic law tied to childbirth, not guilt. Just as Jesus did not need Baptism yet freely accepted it, Mary did not need purification yet humbly embraced it. Grace raised her above the law, Fr. Chris explains, but humility placed her beneath it. Together, Jesus and Mary show us that obedience to God’s law is not weakness, but witness.

The Presentation also reminds us that every child belongs first to God. In the ancient law, the firstborn was not owned by the parents, but lent to them by the Lord. Parenthood, therefore, is stewardship — a sacred trust for which we will one day answer. Faith must be passed on by example, just as Mary and Joseph lived the law faithfully before their Son.

Father Chris then turns our attention to Simeon and Anna, the “quiet in the land.” They did not seek power, spectacle, or influence. They waited in silence, prayer, and hope. Their lives testify that holiness is not measured by activity, but by fidelity. This is a special word of encouragement for the homebound and forgotten: quiet prayer, offered faithfully, shapes salvation history.

Finally, Simeon’s prophecy confronts us with a sobering truth. Christ does not condemn us — we judge ourselves by our response to Him. When His law meets a heart that loves, it lifts us up. When it meets indifference or rejection, we turn away on our own. Salvation is not a one-time declaration, but a daily surrender. Like St. Thérèse of Lisieux taught, we are not called to climb to heaven by our strength, but to place ourselves in Christ’s hands and let Him do the lifting.

Grace invites. Humility responds. And the hand of Jesus raises all who are willing to endure in Him

Father Chris Alar, MIC turns our attention to the Feast of the Holy Family and the profound truth it reveals about God’s design for human life. The Holy Family is not a symbol shaped by culture or preference. It is a revelation. God chose to enter history through a family — a man, a woman, and a child — and in doing so, He revealed the foundation upon which both the Church and society stand.

Father Chris warns that Satan’s most persistent attacks have always been aimed at these two bedrocks: the Church and the family. Marriage is redefined. Gender is redefined. Parenthood is fragmented. Even within Catholic homes, silence has been replaced by constant noise, family meals by screens, and shared life by isolation. The result is not freedom, but fragmentation — a loss of humanity itself.

Drawing from Pope Paul VI, Fr. Chris highlights the essential pillars of a holy family: silence, love, and discipline. Silence creates space for God to speak. Love orders the home toward self-gift rather than self-interest. Discipline — rooted in the word disciple — forms children for heaven, not merely for comfort. Parents are not called to be passive observers of their children’s lives, but faithful stewards accountable to God for their souls.

The family, Father Chris reminds us, is the domestic Church — the first place where obedience, forgiveness, sacrifice, and prayer are learned. It is where children discover who God is by watching how love is lived. Even in broken or difficult situations, God’s grace remains active. Single parents, those abandoned or wounded, are not forgotten by the Church. Their fidelity, sacrifice, and perseverance often become powerful witnesses of divine providence.

Ultimately, the Holy Family shows us that commitment is not a burden but a mission. Joseph protected. Mary trusted. Jesus obeyed. God became man within a family so that all families might be drawn into the family of God. A holy family, Fr. Chris teaches, is not only our greatest defense against the world — it is our most powerful way of transforming it.

Why does the Church place the martyrdom of Saint Stephen immediately after Christmas Day? Father Mark Baron, MIC explains that the tenderness of Bethlehem and the violence of Stephen’s death belong to the same mystery: salvation. Christmas is not only the birth of a child; it is the coming of divine light into a darkened world — a light that saves, but also confronts.

Salvation is more than a moment. It is participation in the very life of God through grace. Jesus enters the world as the Word made flesh, the Light of truth sent to reveal the Father and restore communion with Him. “The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.” (Jn 1:5; NABRE). Yet when truth shines, darkness resists.

Saint Stephen, filled with grace and power, lived a transformed life after Pentecost (Acts 6:8). His witness to Christ threatened those who clung to security without conversion. Unable to refute the truth, they attacked the messenger. Stephen, fixing his gaze on heaven, saw Christ standing at the right hand of the Father — the Savior welcoming His faithful witness home.

Christmas teaches us that salvation must be endured, not assumed. Jesus Himself warns, “But the one who perseveres to the end will be saved.” (Mt 24:13). The Child in the manger is also the Light that exposes hearts, inviting repentance, perseverance, and real transformation.

Saint Stephen reminds us that affection for Christmas is not enough. We are called to receive the truth Christ brings, even when it wounds, because within that pain is the healing God desires. To welcome the Light is to allow our lives to be changed.

The readings for this homily: https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/122225.cfm

Father Daniel Klimek, MIC confronts a growing indifference toward the Blessed Virgin Mary—even among Catholics—and reminds us that authentic Christianity is always Marian. The words of the Magnificat are not poetic exaggeration; they are divinely inspired truth: “From now on will all ages call me blessed.” (Lk 1:48; NABRE). Reverence for Mary is not optional sentiment—it is a biblical directive.

Mary’s song echoes the praise of Miriam in the Old Testament, yet now the liberation announced is not political, but eternal. Through the womb of the Virgin, Christ enters the world. She becomes the Ark of the New Covenant, bearing not the law written on stone, but the Word made flesh. To diminish her role is to misunderstand the Incarnation itself.

Father Daniel warns that indifference toward Mary is one of the most subtle spiritual dangers of our time. When Marian devotion is reduced to a “personal spirituality,” something essential is lost. From the Cross, Jesus entrusted His Mother to the beloved disciple—and in him, to every Christian: “Behold, your mother” (Jn 19:27; NABRE). This was not symbolic poetry; it was a sacred investiture.

To honor Mary never detracts from Christ. As the saints affirm, devotion to the Mother always leads more deeply to the Son. The Immaculate Heart is inseparably united to the Sacred Heart. When we receive Mary into our spiritual life, as St. John did, our faith becomes more profound, more biblical, and more fully Catholic.

Mary is not an accessory to the Gospel. She is at its heart. To receive her is to receive one of Christ’s final gifts from the Cross—a Mother who intercedes, protects, and leads us unfailingly to Him.