The Emmaus Pastorate’s Podcast

Homily from 4-18-21

"Nobody likes a liar."  "We are what we eat."  St. John may as well have used these phrases in today's reading.  If we receive the Body and Blood of Christ in the Eucharist, then we should become the Body and Blood of Christ in our lives.  And if we don't, as St. John tells us, we are liars!  The First Communicants help Fr. John with his homily this week as they explore what it means to receive and live the Eucharist.

Homily from 4-11-21

Easter is the season for saying "yes" in a culture that is constantly saying "no."  Like Doubting Thomas, we often find ourselves living in our own tombs, afraid of saying "yes" to the Good News around us, doubting that there really is hope and joy in this world.  But Divine Mercy Sunday and the season of Easter call us into something different, into a life of believing in those realities, even if we can't always see Christ or heaven with our own eyes.  We are an Easter people.  Alleluia is our song!  It's time to get out of the tomb!

Easter Sunday Homily 2021

Jesus comes into our lives through everyday ways, like friends who come to visit and in sharing a meal with someone.  Will you open the door and let him in?

Easter Vigil Homily 2021

Who is this God who loves us so much?  And why does he care?  He is Christ, our light!  It is he who created us, loves us, desires us to grow, and wants communion with us.

Good Friday Homily 2021

The day Jesus died, there were four deaths: Judas, the indignant thief, the repentant thief, and Jesus.  One hopeless, one heartless, heartless, one hopeful, and one holy.  What will our deaths say about us?  What will yours say about you?

Holy Thursday Homily 2021

What good is it if the bread is changed but I'm not?  That's the question Fr. John poses to us as we begin the sacred Triduum in 2021.  If the bread changes but we don't, what's the point?  Join us as we celebrate the passion, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ in the Emmaus Pastorate.  Visit our website for the schedule and other information: www.vibrantcatholic.com/live.

Lenten Music 2021 - Week 6

As we journey through holy week, the Emmaus Pastorate is happy to share the final four musical selections for your prayer and meditation.  This edition includes Shelter Me, a piece of comfort by Fr. Michael Joncas written in 2020 for the COVID-19 pandemic; two pieces in honor of Holy Thursday: Peace, My Friends and Pange, Lingua, Gloriosi/Tantum Ergo; and finally Marty Haugen's Where Your Treasure Is.  We hope you have found these six music releases a helpful part of your Lenten journey.  Please visit our website, www.vibrantcatholic.com, to see our Holy Week and Easter celebration schedule.

Homily from March 28, 2021

Could you be humble enough to play a pivotal role and still be anonymous?  That's just what the woman did in today's Gospel.  As we hear the beginning of the Palm Sunday Passion Narrative, a nameless woman appears, breaks open an expensive jar of pungent, aromatic oil, and pours it on Jesus' head and body.   This act of foreshadowing is a big moment of the evening, but what significance does it hold for us?  Fr. John Haugen breaks it down for us.

Lenten Music 2021 - Week 5

This final full week of Lent, the Emmaus Pastorate is happy to supply four more titles for your prayerful reflection.  Featured this week are No Wind at the Window by John Bell, a piece perfect for the Solemnity of the Lord's Annunciation on March 25.  In honor of the Solemnity of St. Joseph on March 19, Joseph's Song by Michael Card asks how could he be father to the Son of God.  And Down to the River, the beloved spiritual, and Turn to the Living God by Lori True round out this release.

Homily from March 21, 2021

Jesus said in this week's gospel that "unless a grain of wheat falls to the ground and dies, it remains just a seed."  To be fruitful people, to be the disciples God calls to be, we need to die first.  What's that mean?  How do we die to ourselves and bear much fruit?  Fr. John has three answers in his homily from the final Sunday of Lent.