The Emmaus Pastorate’s Podcast

Homily on Presentation of the Lord 2025

"You suck at this!  Go run that drill until you get it!" yells the coach at practice.  It's not always nice, but that's how coaches coach you to be better.  They tell you the long, hard truth that you're not great at this or that skill, and they help you fix it.  A silversmith does the same thing by removing the dross from melted silver.  Only when all the impurities are gone can the silver be used to make various objects.  But running those drills or removing the dross is rarely a comfortable experience.  It's usually painful to some degree and can be grueling at times.  But the beauty is in the finished product.

God works in the same way.  We come to worship to give glory to God, yes, but also be run through the ringer, to be told what we're not good at, to have our own dross removed.  It's not comfortable, but it is the path of a disciple!  And the beauty is what lies before us in eternal life!

Homily on 1-26-25

Being a Christian, and a Catholic specifically, is no easy task.  But Jesus never said it was going to be.  Sometimes, maybe most of the time, being a Christian in a culture that can be very self-centered, paradoxical, and counter to the Gospel message might cause us more anguish than we currently endure.  Still, our baptism calls us to work for justice and peace, to call out wrongs when they occur, to pray for all people (even people we don't like), and to speak up for people who have no voice.  That's what Jesus did, even though it went against most of his own culture's teachings and beliefs.  We are called to do these things because whether we believe it or not the Spirit of the Lord is upon us and has been since the moment of our baptism.  Let's not forget it!

Homily on 1-19-25

The wedding feast at Cana can be a quaint little story.  "Mom, not now!  It's not time yet!  Don't you get it?  Once I start, there's no going back!" says Jesus.  But still, Mary comes to Jesus on behalf of the happily married couple in need of more wine for their feast.  And Jesus delivers in a big way!  This story reminds us of two things: 1) Mary is always ready - like any mom - to fill our needs and get us help, and 2) Jesus reminds us that the heavenly banquet will be so much better than our present.

Homily from 1-12-25

What good does your baptism do you?  Do you every think about that?  What good does your baptism do you?  Does it empower you?  Does it challenge you?  Hopefully it does both at different times in your life.  If it does neither, ask yourself whether your faith is really worth anything.  Answering those questions might just change your life!

(Disclaimer: this episode is Fr. John's homily from Saturday night, January 11, 2025 at St. Joseph Parish in Elkader, IA.  Although Sunday Mass was celebrated, references to "tonight" are made because Sunday Mass was celebrated on Saturday night.)

Christmas Music Selections - Episode 2

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, 2025!  In this episode, you'll hear from St. Joseph Choir at St. Joseph Parish in Elkader, IA, the musicians of St. Mary Parish in Strawberry Point, IA, and a few of the musicians from St. Mark Parish in Edgewood, IA.  Please note these are live recordings from either before or during worship, so expect to hear a little background noise and/or a priest singing occasionally.  The pieces in order of appearance are:

Child of the Poor (Scott Soper)
Go, Tell It on the Mountain (Spiritual)

Do You Hear What I Hear (unknown)

Noel (Chris Tomlin)

O What a King (Katy Nichole)

There Is Nothing Told (Christopher Willcock)

Holy Is His Name (John Michael Talbot)

Love Has Come (Matt Maher)

What Child Is This (GREENSLEEVES)

Be Born in Us  (Ruth Elaine Schram)

We Three Kings (KINGS OF ORIENT)

Epiphany Homily 2025

Look up!  Not down...look up!  As we begin a new year and celebrate the Solemnity of the Epiphany, how are looking for God?  How are we inviting him into our lives?  The word epiphany really means "manifestation" or "enlightening."  Yes, smart people came to visit him, but the Magi aren't the only people to whom Jesus came.  He came for everyone found in the nativity story.  He came for you.  He came for your neighbors.  He came for all Christians but also all non-Christians.  He came for everyone at every period of time.  So as we begin 2025 and continue to celebrate Christmas, how exactly are we seeing God and inviting him into our lives and those of others?

Holy Family Homily 2024

BONUS!  Fr. John is slowly getting back into presiding at Sunday Masses, and we're blessed to hear his homily from the Feast of the Holy Family of Jesus, Mary, and Joseph.  Please keep him in your prayers as he continues to recover.

Families can be complicated, no doubt about it.  They can be even more complicated in church too!  Nonetheless, as Christians, we are called to set aside differences and build relationships that resemble those formed by the Holy Family.  Easy?  Nope!  Our calling?  Absolutely!  How can you create better relationships and bring people to God in the new year?

Homily on 12-29-24

The family is the central unit of human society, and for better or for worse it has a large hand in the people become.  As we reflect on the Holy Family this week, how do our familial relationships compare to theirs?

The Emmaus Pastorate thanks Msgr. Jim Miller for celebrating Mass with us this weekend!  We look forward to having Fr. John back on a regular basis in the next few months!

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!