What is Church teaching on when life begins? What does it mean to be a man? A woman? Can a man become a woman? Father Mark Baron, MIC, explains how the teachings of Pope St. John Paul II, called “Theology of the Body,” answers these questions and more. Then see how performance artist Mike Debus captures sacred images of the body on canvas right before your very eyes during his dramatic live presentations.

Fr. Mark Baron reflects on the Sacred Heart of Jesus, a mystery that the Church invites us to contemplate as a window into God’s infinite love. The Sacred Heart is not merely a symbolic image but the very real human heart of Christ, which beats with divine love for every soul. In His Incarnation, Jesus took on a true human heart, and in doing so He reveals that God is not distant, but near — a God who suffers with us, who loves us personally, and who offers His very self for our salvation.

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.