Road from Emmaus

Andrew and Cherry are officially married now, but the podcast doesn't stop! On today's episode, Andrew and Jason spend some time answering the question of what one should do if they're new to the Catholic faith. What should I do? What should my approach be? What resources can I look at? They answer all these questions and more; hope you have a good listen!

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Resources:

- Formed: https://formed.org/ > "Sign Up As A Parishioner"

- Bible in A Year Podcast: https://open.spotify.com/show/4Pppt42NPK2XzKwNIoW7BR?si=ee67747acff04428

- Names mentioned: Chris Stefanick, Fr. Mike Schmitz, Bishop Robert Barron, Jason Evert, Christopher West, Scott Hahn, Brandon Vogt

- GT21 Retreat: www.eccclc.ca

One more week. In just a few more days, Andrew and Cherry will be saying "yes" in front of God to spending the rest of their lives together. Is Andrew ready? They invited Gabby Song and Cheryl Chan, two longtime friends of theirs going back to their days at university together, to find out. They ask Andrew to share about his relationship with Cherry, what their discernment process has been like, and otherwise grill him just to make sure he knows what he's doing. They're joined by a special guest halfway through, so make sure you listen to the whole thing ;)

Sometimes when we go to Mass, we might come away underwhelmed by the homily. Or maybe we'll go to Confession and the counselling that we receive isn't exactly the greatest. What should we do when this happens? Is it wrong for us to feel this way? Sometimes, our faith becomes a little too priest-centric, and today, Andrew and Jason talk about what that looks like and how we can remind ourselves what things like Mass and Confession are really about. May we always find ourselves pointed towards Christ.

215. That's the number of Indigenous children whose remains were found on May 29, 2021. They were found buried on the site of what used to be Kamloops Indian Residential School. Andrew and Jason take today's episode to lay out what happened, what the residential school system was and its traumatic effects on the Indigenous peoples, and how the Catholic Church was involved in this dark past. They share their thoughts and talk about how the lay Catholic should receive this news. Let's continue to keep our Indigenous brothers and sisters in our prayers. St. Kateri Tekakwitha, pray for us!

Additional Resources- Aboriginal Peoples Fact Sheet for Canada, Nov 2015:https://www150.statcan.gc.ca/n1/pub/89-656-x/89-656-x2015001-eng.htm - Native-Land.ca- Apology from Missionary Oblates of Mary Immaculate, May 30:  https://secureservercdn.net/104.238.71.250/30a.492.myftpupload.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/05/Media-Release-KIRS-1.pdf- Joint statement from Chief Littlechild (former Grand Chief of the Confederacy of Treaty 6 First Nations) and Archbishop Richard Smith, Archdiocese of Edmonton, June 4: https://caedm.ca/PastoralScene/entryid/876/video-chief-littlechild-and-archbishop-smiths-statement-on-kamloops-and-reconciliation- Canadian Catholic Conference of Bishops Statement, June 10: https://www.cccb.ca/announcement/cccb-statement-delegation-to-the-holy-see/- Archdiocese of Toronto statement from June 3: https://www.archtoronto.org/en/outreach/news/archdiocesan/statement-from-cardinal-thomas-collins-archbishop-of-toronto--re-discovery-of-childrens-remains-at-former-kamloops-residential-school/- Archdiocese of Vancouver responses and statements: https://rcav.org/first-nations- This Is Year 25 blog: http://thisisyear25.blogspot.com/2019/11/pups.htmlhttp://thisisyear25.blogspot.com/2020/03/pandemic.html

Andrew and Jason have gotten to the age where they're starting to think about the next stage of their lives--specifically, married life, family life, and bringing up children. In some ways, it's a funny conversation to have because neither of them are even married (yet), but it's also an important conversation. How can we do our best to be examples of holiness, so that our children can become saints? You can hear what they have to say on that on today's episode.

When priests get assigned to a new parish, go on study or personal leave, or retire, it can be jarring, for the parishioners and for the priest. On this episode, Andrew and Jason talk about what it must be like when priests have to leave their parish, and why it's important for us as laypeople to be able to let go. They touch on the virtue of obedience, too. Remember to keep your priests, deacons, and religious sisters in your prayers!

On Holy Saturday, Andrew was praying with an ancient homily, and he had a revelation of sorts. Andrew and Jason dive into one particular quote within the homily, which was said by Jesus as he brought Adam out of hell. The quote: "Rise, let us leave this place. The enemy led you out of the earthly Paradise. I will not restore you to that Paradise, but will enthrone you in heaven. I forbade you the tree that was only a symbol of life, but see, I who am life itself am now one with you."

They talk about the nuts and bolts of how, exactly, Jesus came to defeat and erase the effects of sin. Then they go into what we can do now that Jesus has done the heavy lifting, and how we can participate in salvation by purging our own vices and seeking virtue as we walk through this valley of tears.

"The Source and the Summit". You've probably heard these words before to describe the core of our Catholic faith, but what does it actually mean? Today, Andrew shares about his revelation on how the Eucharist can be mapped as a parallel to the journey that is our interior life. Andrew and Jason dive into what it truly means to receive Jesus's Body and Blood through the Eucharist. There are some important things to hold in our hearts whenever we find ourselves in front of the Eucharist; may we keep these things prayerfully in our hearts!

The video Andrew references by "Breaking In The Habit", on "Do I Have to Confess My Sins to a Priest?": https://youtu.be/PtaGqN2Wm4o

Audrey Assad said a thing a few weeks ago, so Andrew and Jason start off talking about that. Then they talk about practicing the interior life, and how this is imperative for us to be able to truly be in relationship with God. Without it, the things we do as Catholics can be seen as meaningless. So they try to unpack what the interior life means, using their own journeys and learnings as examples, along with those of the saints. May you have a blessed Holy Week!

In today's episode, Andrew and Jason bring on their first ever guest, Fr. Raphael Ma CR. They tackle a heavier topic with him as they dive into questions about grief and suffering: Why does God allow suffering into this world? What is the teaching of redemptive suffering? How do we approach grief with someone who is or isn't Catholic?

Before unpacking these questions, Fr. Raph CR shares his own experiences with grief: from the perspective of someone who regularly ministers to those who grieve, but also as someone who has gone through his own fair share.

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Resources referred to by Fr. Raph CR throughout the episode:

1) Stephanie Gray blog post that illustrates what God does about suffering (and not just "why suffering"): https://loveunleasheslife.com/blog/2016/3/30/the-day-i-was-stumped-by-stephanie-gray

2) Website on grief - https://whatsyourgrief.com/

3) Another podcast episode on grief (Erin Kinsella works at Newman U of T) https://www.inthethicketpodcast.com/s/stories/s1e4-what-not-to-say