The readings for this homily: https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/010826.cfm Father Chris Alar, MIC reminds us that God’s timing is never accidental. Though the Jubilee Year of Hope formally concluded on January 6, its message—and its grace—did not end. Rooted in Leviticus 25 and proclaimed anew by Isaiah, the Jubilee was always meant to announce freedom, restoration, and mercy. But as Father Chris explains, this freedom is not political or economic. It is spiritual.

On this great solemnity, Fr. Chris reflects on the mystery at the heart of the Marian Fathers’ charism: the Immaculate Conception—God’s greatest act of mercy ever given to a creature. Despite the grief of losing his father just days earlier, he reminds us that Our Lady’s purity is the blueprint for our own path to holiness. Long before the dogma was defined in 1854, the Church cherished this truth in Scripture and Sacred Tradition, seen in Gabriel’s greeting, “Hail, full of grace,” revealing Mary as wholly transformed by divine life.

Even going back to the Old Testament, the people of God have always had priests to mediate between them and God; to offer sacrifices in expiation for the sin of the people. Did the role of the priest change in the New Testament? And if so, how? Hear Fr. Chris discuss the priesthood and interview Mark Wahlberg about his new movie, Father Stu.