The readings for this homily: https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/122925.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.

Fr. Chris Alar, MIC, takes us deep into the heart of the Church’s great mystery — the inseparable link between the Sacred Heart of Jesus and the message of Divine Mercy. Long before St. Faustina received the vision of Christ’s mercy, St. Margaret Mary Alacoque revealed the burning love of His Heart. Both messages — separated by centuries — form one divine revelation of the same truth: God is Love, and His love takes action through mercy.

The loss of a loves one (suicide or any cause of death) is perhaps the most difficult of all topics to talk about. Fr. Chris Alar, MIC, shares, based on personal and pastoral experience, a fact we know to be true: Even in the midst of such darkness, God’s mercy is present. There is hope for the soul of the departed and there is hope for those left behind.