The Emmaus Pastorate’s Podcast

Homily from 10-17-21

Are you an admirer or a follower?  Jesus' two key disciples ask to sit at his right and left when the kingdom comes, and all Jesus can see are admirers: people who aren't committed to following in his footsteps.  Being a follower is more than just looking on in amazement; it requires dedication, commitment, and - many times - sacrifice.  Are you an admirer or a follower?

Homily from 10-10-21

Do you possess things?  Do YOU possess things, or do your THINGS possess you?  This guy in the Gospel today, no matter his age, has observed all the rules.  That's good!  Following the 10 Commandments and obeying God's law are great actions and virtues!  But Jesus says those aren't enough.  It's easier for a camel to pass through the eye of a needle than for someone whose THINGS possess them to enter heaven.  The rich young man went away sad.  When we get to heaven, will you be turned away sad too?

Homily from 10-3-21

Do you love your Church?  Do you love your parish?  Do you love them like you love your spouse or family?  Relationships, especially marital ones, get very rocky sometimes, and obviously there are times of great joy.  In marriages though, spouses promise to be true to each other "in good times and in bad."  Is the same true when it comes to your local parish?  Do you stay true to the global Church in good times and in bad?

Homily from 9-27-21

A disobedient follower does not a saint make.  In days gone by, it was extremely rare to find people preaching against church teaching and leading people away from Christ's flock.  But these days, such people are ever more common.  Let us remember that divisiveness is opposed to Christ's mission, and woe to the person who leads God's people away from the Word.  As St. Augustine once said, "There are those who seem outside the sheepfold who are really inside it, and there are those who seem inside the sheepfold who are really outside it."  Do you lead people toward God or away from him?

Archbishop‘s Homily from 9-19-21

In Fr. John's absence, Archbishop Michael Jackels visited St. Joseph Parish in Elkader and St. Mary Parish in Strawberry Point this weekend.  In his homily, he relays this Wisdom: Rejoice in what is, rather than lament in what is not.  Let us also be happy with what we have, rather than decry what we are without.

Homily from 9-19-21

Happiness is an inside job.  Happiness isn't something we can find through other people, activities, substances, or fame.  Happiness starts with ourselves, by looking at ourselves and our priorities.  If love of God, neighbor, and self are central to us, happiness will follow.  But if something else takes priority, anything but happiness follows.  Happiness is an inside job.

Homily from 9-12-21

Centuries ago, there was a huge debate over the importance of faith and works and whether a person needed one or both to earn his/her way into heaven.  Although that was one struggle in the 16th century Reformation, it's a struggle with which we still grapple today.  As St. Paul tells us, a Christian must have a balance of both faith and works in order to present ourselves at the pearly gates.  If we're focused on either extreme, a good Christian we do not make.  Fr. John tells us more in his homily from the Twenty-Fourth Sunday in Ordinary Time.

Homily from 9-5-21

Are you open?  It's so easy for us in the 21st century to get closed off to hearing God's voice, and it's hard to see God working in our daily lives.  It's important to set aside time and energy to hear him and allow him to speak and work.  Are you open?  Be opened!

Homily from 8-29-21

Do you get heartburn?  Heartburn is something some people develop after eating certain foods, after putting something not-so-good into themselves.  Our spiritual lives also experience a kind of heartburn, but the difference here is that spiritual heartburn is not born of something we put into ourselves.  It comes from things already inside us.  Just like taking an antacid will help relieve our physical heartburn, there are some practices we can take on to relieve our spiritual heartburn.  What kind of vices already exist in you?  And what are you doing about it?

Homily from 8-22-21

So we've come to a turning point in the Gospel.  The goin' has gotten tough, and some people following Jesus have said, "This is just too hard!  Who can listen to and do these things?!"  And they left.  Then Jesus turned to his disciples and asked them, "Will you also leave?"  St. Peter answers back simply, "Lord, to whom shall we go?  You alone have the words of everlasting life."  So when you goin' gets tough, when your life gets rough, when you start to wonder why you believe in this Jesus, "Will you also leave?"  Or will you respond like faithful Peter, "Lord, to whom shall I go?"