The Emmaus Pastorate’s Podcast

Christmas Homily 2021

What's the meaning of Christmas?  Is the day intended to honor the blond haired, blue eyed baby we imagine was laid in a tidy little manger all those years ago?  No.  Christmas is a reminder of our baptismal call.  Just as Christ came to bring grace, peace, and salvation to the world, by our baptism we are called to continue that work 21 centuries later.  No, Christmas isn't the occasion to celebrate the birth of a child again.  It's to remind us that that child should be born in us every day and he should be shared with the world through our day-to-day actions.  Maybe, just maybe, in doing so our world will see the transformation God intended in sending his only son.

Homily on 12-19-21

When??  When is the day??  When is the time??  We ask ourselves "when" so many times throughout the year, even throughout the day.  TODAY is the day.  TODAY, right NOW, is the time to allow Christ to renew our lives.  THIS MOMENT is the answer.  How's your Advent preparation going?  If it hasn't started, start NOW.

Homily on 12-12-21

During the first week of Advent, we heard about WHO, asking ourselves with whom we're in relationship.  During the second week of Advent, we asked ourselves for WHAT we prepare during Advent.  During this third week of Advent, Deacon Paul Dolan turns us to the WHERE.  Where do we see Jesus today?  Where are our energies focused?  On this Gaudete (translated Rejoice) Sunday, where do we find our joy?  Like a road that needs rebuilding, we need a foundation that is sturdy, dependable, and reliable.  Hopefully we can consider Christ our foundation, the person in whom we find joy and worthy of our energies and focus!

Homily from 12-5-21

"Prepare the way of the Lord!  Make straight his paths!" (Luke 3:4-5)  These words from the John the Baptist call us to get ready for the Lord's coming.  But 2,021 years after Jesus came, how do we do this?  How exactly do we prepare our hearts, our minds, our bodies, our lives, our society for the coming of Christ?  And how do we do that everyday, not just during the season of Advent?  If this journey seems too daunting, fear not, for St. Paul tells us that Jesus Christ began a good work in us and will continue to complete it until he comes again (Philippians 1:6)!

Homily on 11-28-21

So we've arrived at Advent!  Happy (liturgical) new year!  This Advent, the Emmaus Pastorate looks at four related words: Who, What, Where, and When.  This first week, the question is: Who do we say God is?  Is God a vending machine that gives us x, y, or z for three Hail Mary's or 10 Our Fathers?  Is there something that we let pull us away from a closer relationship with God?  Or is Christ the center of our lives, even more important than our proudest moments?  Is Jesus someone for whom we long, a person we see in the people around us?  Who is God to you this Advent?  

Homily from 11-21-21

What does the kingdom of God look like?  Jesus describes it in several ways throughout the Gospels, and near the end of his life Pilate asks him whether or not he is a king and, if so, where his kingdom exists.  In 2021 on the Solemnity of Jesus Christ KING OF THE UNIVERSE, we're asked the same questions.  Is Jesus your king?  What have you done to bring about his kingdom?

Archbishop‘s Homily 11-14-21

It's hard to be guilty of sin.  It's easy to be forgiven and welcomed home into heaven.  At least, that's true for Christians who see the world upside down compared to secular society.  While the world is very quick to judge and condemn us for our misgivings, Christ is like the "running father" who saw his repentant child returning to him.  As the liturgical year ends, let us rejoice in that fact that we have a forgiving Father who longs for us to dwell with him in heaven! 

And thanks to Archbishop Jackels for visiting this weekend as Father John goes on retreat!

Homily on 11-8-21

Those widows have something to teach us!  One shared the last morsel of bread with a stranger, and another gave all the money she had to the temple.  So we're faced the questions: Do we give everything we have, and do we give it from our surplus or from our livelihood?  A further question to ponder: Do we give just our money and treasures, or do we also give our time and skills (i.e. talents)?  Giving from our surplus is OK, but when we're personally invested in each other, in God, and in our Church, our sacrifices carry more.  Let's learn from those widows!

Homily from 10-31-21

Are you a good enough Catholic?  When you come to Mass, give your charity, help out at various events, are you giving just enough of yourself?  Today, Jesus challenges us - like the Hebrews before him - to love the Lord with all of our heart, all of our mind, and with all of our strength.  We are asked to be not just good enough but to love and give our all.  Can you do that?

Homily on 10-24-21

So one day you see Jesus passing by with a crowed following you.  You need some healing, some kind of assistance in your life, and you call out to him.  Someone escorts you over to him, he looks you square in the face, and asks, "What do you want me to do for you?"  What's your answer?