The Emmaus Pastorate’s Podcast

Christmas Eve Musical Selections 2024

Merry Christmas!  In addition to our usual and extra homily posts, the Emmaus Pastorate musicians would like to share with you some of the Christmas music they've prepared for you this season.  We hope it adds to your Christmas joy as we celebrate Christ's birth thru the feast of his baptism on January 12!  In this episode, you'll hear the music sung by the St. Joseph Choir on Christmas Eve 2024 at St. Joseph Parish in Elkader, IA.  The pieces in order of appearance are:

The People That Walk in Darkness (Bob Dufford)

Away in a Manger (CRADLE SONG)

Pavane for a Silent Night (Patrick Liebergen)

See Amid the Winter's Snow (Richard Kingsmore)

Still (Kathleen Basi)

O Holy Night (Keith Christopher)

By Candlelight (Ruth Elaine Schram)

Hallelujah (Leonard Cohen, arr. John Uhal)

A Christmas Blessing (John Purifoy)

The Snow Lay on the Ground (Jody Lindh)

O Come, All Ye Faithful (ADESTE FIDELES)

O Little Town of Bethlehem (ST. LOUIS)

Silent Night (STILLE NACHT)

The First Nowell (THE FIRST NOWELL)

Et in Terra Pax (John Purifoy)

Joy to the World (ANTIOCH)

Christmas Eve Homily

The extended version of the Christmas night Gospel has a few characters for us to examine.  First, Gabriel, the archangel, has a message to deliver to unsuspecting shepherds.  As Christmas begins, how might we hear the same message they heard, that the long-awaited messiah has been born for us?  Second, all the focus is on a little, harmless baby.  Babies and children are inherently disarming and therefore inviting.  They invite us to let go of the protections and walls we create between our inner selves and others.  They allow us to open our hearts and simply love the other.  Can we do the same with each other this Christmas?  Finally, the shepherds who visited the manger scene and saw the new born king went away completely different people.  Having celebrated Christmas and remembered that Jesus also was born and walked this earth, could we also be different people this Christmas?  Someone more hopeful, civil, kind, and loving?

We appreciate Fr. Carl Reis for celebrating Mass with us on Christmas Eve!  The staff of the Emmaus Pastorate wishes all of our listeners a very merry Christmas!

Rituals & Preparation - Homily on 12-22-24 (BONUS)

We are pleased to welcome Fr. John Haugen back to another Emmaus Pastorate parish this weekend!  We're glad he's getting back into a routine, and we look forward to celebrating the Mass and sacraments with him in the coming weeks as he feels able!

Rituals help define and shape our lives.  From washing the floor before company arrives to polishing shoes before Mass on Saturday nights, rituals abound in our lives, even ones we maybe don't recognize.  So as we prepare for Christmas later this week, what rituals are you performing?  How are you preparing for Christ's coming?  Hopefully you've been doing a little prep work here and there throughout Advent, but if you're a procrastinator, that's OK too!  Let's prepare our hearts, our minds, and our souls - not for something that already happened thousands of years ago but - for something that should happen everyday of our lives!

Homily on 12-22-24

Hope.  Expectation.  Joy.  These are the themes of Advent that converge here on the final Sunday of Advent.  The scene of the Visitation of Mary to Elizabeth is full of each of these themes, and out of them even come some phrases of the beloved prayer, the Hail Mary.  Although Mary and Elizabeth haven't walked this earth for thousands of years, those themes still live on in Christians every day.  As we look forward to celebrating Christmas later this week, are you full of hope, expectation, and joy?  Will you be welcoming guests into your home and heart with hope, expectation, and joy?  Might you welcome Christ too?

We appreciate Fr. Jim Miller stepping in for Fr. John this week!  Because Fr. John won't be celebrating all of our Masses each weekend just yet, we'll continue to welcome guest presiders and homilists to our podcast for the next few weeks.  From all the staff of the Emmaus Pastorate, we with you and yours a very merry Christmas!

Homily on 12-15-24

"Rejoice!"  Paul didn't say, "Be happy!"  No, he said, "Rejoice!  Again I say, 'rejoice!'"  As we look at the last 10 days of Advent, we turn our minds from the penitential affect of the season to the joyful.  Joy is a foundational virtue of a Christians' life.  It reminds us that despite any unfortunate event in this life, there is a better result waiting for us: the Resurrection and eternal life!  So whenever life gets a little drear, remember that there's always a light shinning for us.  And his name is Jesus!

We'd like to also welcome back Fr. John Haugen!  He has been recovering from a heart attack over the last few weeks.  Although he's not back to full strength yet and he likely won't be featured on this podcast every week for a little while, we're glad to have him whenever we can!

Be Prepared. Homily from 12-8-24

Be Prepared.  It's the century-old Boy Scout motto even non Boy Scouts know so well.  As we look ahead to Christmas, John the Baptist cries out in the wilderness, "Prepare the way of the Lord!"  It's good to be prepared for life, and scouting definitely helps young men and women be so.  But what about our spiritual lives?  Are our hearts and minds prepared for eternal life, for the coming of Christ in our lives (both then and now)?  Consider cracking open your bible, going to confession, and adding something to your prayer life this Advent.  Are you ROOTED in those habits?  If not, there's still time to prepare!

Happy Advent! Homily from 12-1-24

Happy (liturgical) New Year!  As we begin the season of Advent and prepare for Christmas, we also turn our calendars to another year in the church.  It's time to reexamine our lives and our direction...hopefully they're both pointed toward Christ!  But if they're not, this is a good time for course correction.  As we wait for God's coming both at the end of time but also in our everyday lives, we can prepare our hearts, minds, and lives for those moments.  Fr. Dave Ambrosy shares with us three ways we can prepare for Christmas in this holy season of Advent.

1. Slow down - take time for God, for yourself, and for others.  In the hustle and bustle of the season, let's not forget the "reason for the season"!
2. Extra time for prayer - take an extra few minutes each day to talk and commune with God.  In the morning, maybe around lunch, or before bedtime, find 5-10 minutes to spend with our Lord wherever you are.
3. Go to confession - give yourself the best Christmas present ever by receiving absolution of all your sins in the Sacrament of Reconciliation!  Visit a priest anytime or join us on December 18 at St. Mark Parish in Edgewood, IA for confessions.  We'll be serving a meal from 5:00pm-7:00pm, and several priests will be available to hear confessions from 6:00pm-8:00pm.  Receiving absolution is a beautiful way to prepare your heart for the holy season to come!

What Is Truth? Homily from 11-24-24

What is truth?  In the 21st century, where do we find truth?  There are lots of places offering a version of truth: the internet, social media, political parties and leaders, maybe friends and/or family too.  But what is truth at its core?  Well only one person can provide that, and his name is Jesus!  As we celebrate the Solemnity of Our Lord Jesus Christ, King of the Universe and the Global Celebration of Youth and Young Adults, let's ask ourselves where we're finding our truth as we end this liturgical year, look forward to Thanksgiving, and enter a new liturgical year with Advent next week.

Special thanks to Archbishop Thomas Zinkula for filling in for Fr. John Haugen this weekend as he completes his retreat and heart attack recovery!

Bonus: Homily from 11-17-24

Fr. Dave Ambrosy visited St. Mary Parish this weekend, and left us a message for these last days of Ordinary Time.  As we prepare for the end of the liturgical year and the coming season of Advent, are we prepared?  Are we ready for the coming of Christ at the end of time.  It's something to think about as we enter these last and first weeks!

Homily from 11-17-24

To whom are you faithful?  As we near the end of the church's liturgical year, we can ask ourselves whether or not we're ready for the end.  During these last few weeks, we hear scripture passages about the end times, the eschaton, the second coming of Christ.  We get to ask ourselves as the year ends and as a new one (beginning with the season of Advent) begins: To whom are we faithful?  Especially when the going gets tough, when life gets hard, frustrating, or maybe scary and unknown, do we keep our faith, hope, and trust in the God?  Maybe that's a good thing to think about this Advent!