The Emmaus Pastorate’s Podcast

This weekend, the Emmaus Pastorate welcomes its new pastor, Fr. Paul Baldwin!  In his first homily, he explains his background and roots.  Everyone is our neighbor and deserves our care, love and support.  As Fr. Paul begins his ministry here, he's counting on that from us.  The greatest thing a priest can do is care for others in both the good times and bad.  So, let us be there for him as he is...

Have you ever seen God as a mother?  God wants to nurture, nourish, and grow us!  But that requires us to be docile enough to accept such an intimate relationship.  And how does God nurture us?  Through other people!  We are called to be both the nurtured and the nurturer!  We are our brothers' keepers and our neighbors' caretakers.  We belong to each other and are here to serve each other.  Let u...

With belief comes persecution, but all of us have a part to play.  This is especially true in the 21st century and as the Archdiocese of Dubuque embarks on a long-range initiative titled Journey in Faith that will help shape the future of our parishes in northeast Iowa.  Today's Mass also marks Fr. John's farewell at St. Joseph Parish in Elkader, IA.  He will certainly be missed, and we wish him w...

In this bonus episode of the Emmaus Pastorate's Podcast, we are very happy to share the content of another great Catholic podcast, Catholic History Trek.  Their hosts, Kevin Schmiesing and Scott Schulze, retell parts of Catholic history that relate to current practices and issues.  One thread of their show is to showcase the Cradle of Catholicism in each of the United States. For the last several...

"Pray.  Serve.  Belong."  That's the mission of St. Stephen the Witness Catholic Student Center in Cedar Falls, IA.  As Chaplain Fr. Mark Murphy explains, St. Stephen serves the spiritual needs of college students from the University of Northern Iowa, Hawkeye Community College, Allen College, and Wartburg College, all of which are in the Waterloo and Waverly areas of the Archdiocese of Dubuque.  B...

The Trinity is a hard concept to understand.  But that's alright.  We mere mortals don't need to understand it.  But as followers of Jesus, we do need to live the Trinity!

Come, Holy Spirit!  Yes, indeed we need the Holy Spirit, perhaps now more than ever!  Pentecost celebrates the birthday of the Church, the unofficial end of Christ's work on earth and the simultaneous beginning of people's work on earth.  The Archdiocese of Dubuque is also undergoing long-term pastoral planning, considering how to best be the Church in northeast Iowa in this modern era.  As we do...

See.  Judge.  Act.  These three steps have been used by saints and martyrs for centuries to discern the will of God and the direction he desired for their lives.  On the Vigil of Pentecost, 15 students of the Emmaus Pastorate were confirmed by Archbishop Thomas Zinkula.  He reminded them and all of us that the Church, that Jesus, needs us to be active in today's world and that as Christians we are...

Christian living and sacrifice go hand-in-hand.  To have one, you must have the other to be true.  One can't be a Christian and not live a life of sacrifice for God.  To live a life sacrificing for your faith is to be a Christian.  But we don't like sacrificing.  The concept is sometimes even foreign to us!  But as Jesus ascends into heaven this Sunday, we're left on earth with the question: what...

Peace!

New.  Change.  We tend to dislike these words because they involve something different than our status quo.  They sometimes also require us to put down our own ideals, let go of our own desires, and allow something different to happen within us.  In today's Gospel, Jesus gives a "new" commandment - that for Jews wasn't actually new at all - which requires people wanting to follow him to do new and...

To whom do you listen?  That's the question as we mark the Fourth Sunday of Easter, which is often called Good Shepherd Sunday.  Certainly we listen to our moms - or we should anyway!  With the election of a new Holy Father, hopefully we're listening to him as well.  But Jesus is the Good Shepherd, to whom we should listen always.  In 2025, with all the news and social outlets surrounding us, to w...

Better and better!  That's what Jesus makes us when we come to receive him in the Eucharist.  Whether it's our first time or maybe we've received him faithfully for 50+ years, every time we receive Jesus' Body and Blood, we are made better and better disciples.   Congratulations to all of our First Communicants!  We are very proud of you and wish you many, many blessings!

Miracles happen when people are unified in the Lord.  Take St. John, stranded on the island of Patmos, for example.  Even in that banishment, he still received the overwhelming message from Jesus to "be not afraid."  Take another example from the Upper Room.  Even as the disciples were terrified when Jesus appeared despite the door being locked, Jesus said, "Peace be with you."  Miracles! But then...

What difference does the empty tomb make?  Flowers are nice, but what's it all about?  It's about transformation, about change, and that's one thing people hate the most!  God always accepts us where we are on our own spiritual journeys, but he never wants to leave us there.  He always wants to draw us closer to him.  So let's ask ourselves if we're more than Jesus than this time last year.  This...

Why do we do this?  Why do we gather late at night to celebrate a liturgy more different than any other?  Well it's not for doctrine or dogma.  Christ didn't come to set church teachings or a catechism, though he did do that.  No, we come instead to share our faith.  We come to share the faith that Christ brought us and the Good News is carries because Jesus desires that every person enter eternal...

The crucifying has continued.  In every sin we commit, every time the innocent suffer, Jesus' crucifixion continues.  But it doesn't have to be that way.  It can stop with us. Beginning this episode is the Responsorial Psalm for Good Friday, a setting of Psalm 31 by John Michael Talbot titled Father, I Put My Life in Your Hands.  It was cantored by Tony Tjaden.  Following Fr. John's homily is Tree...

Jesus gives us a model to follow.  It's about loving each other and becoming His Body and Blood.  It's a model to follow that will call us to a life deeper than we can imagine.  It's a model that will lead us to heaven on earth. Preceding this episode is Curtis Stephan's Bread of Angels, and following Fr. John's homily is Craig Larson's arrangement of How Beautiful by Twila Paris.  Both are sung b...

Are you sleeping!?  There's no napping in the Garden!  Stay awake, and pray.  Pray that you may not undergo the test, and pray to relieve someone else's test!

God is trying to do something new in you.  Will you let him?

The Emmaus Pastorate is happy to provide our listeners with an extra bonus episode this week!  As we near the end of March, which is Problem Gambling Addiction Awareness Month, we share an episode from Road to Purity’s podcast, Tell Them for Me.  Titled Delving Deep: Healing Addiction by Tracing its Roots and Mending Wounds, this is excellent food for thought as we continue our journey through Mar...

Why can't we just come to our senses?!  The prodigal son did!  Why can't we?  God will love and forgive us no matter what sins we commit so long as we're repentant.  So come home, repent, and enjoy the party! We thank Fr. Carl Ries for celebrating Mass for us and preaching this weekend.  Fr. Carl filled in for Fr. John as he continues his recovery from a recent heart attack.  Please join us on Wed...

Forgive everyone everything.  Plain and simple.  Not always easy, but plain and simple!  It's sometimes hard to let go of grudges, fears, resentments, and hurts.  But if we want the reward of a life well lived (aka heaven), we need to forgive others and ourselves of the sins we all commit.  And when we find it hard, God is always there to help us!  We can never say that we can never forgive someon...

Fr. Dustin Vu visited St. Joseph Parish in Elkader this weekend as Fr. John continues his recovery.  Thank you for your ministry, Fr. Vu! In this homily, Fr. Vu gives us the landowner's quarrel.  Are we getting better?  Or are we getting worse?  If we're not getting better, then we are useless, perhaps even worse.  Maybe we take up space and resources from others!  Come judgement day, the landowne...