Joan shares stories about faith during her childhood, the impact of a life-changing retreat, how realizing she is a daughter of God has dramatically impacted her life, and the ways she promotes and encourages health and wholeness at our parish.

Show notes:

• Catechism in a Year Podcast with Fr. Mike
• A Father Who Keeps His Promises by Scott Hahn
• Hope to Die by Scott Hahn with Emily Stimpson Chapman
• A Man of the Beatitudes: Pier Giorgio Frassati
• A Song for Nagasaki: The Story of Takashi Nagai
• Marian Consecration: The What, Why, and How *

Ty and David share their conversion stories and other stories about how forming a Christ-centered friendship has taught them the value of vulnerability and helped them to mature as followers of Jesus.

Wild at Heart by John Eldredge

• Every man longs for a battle to fight, an adventure to live, and a beauty to rescue. In the heart of every man is a yearning—to be powerful, brave, and free. But over time, life’s responsibilities and wounds dim that fire. In this updated edition of his bestselling book Wild at Heart, John Eldredge invites men to rediscover their masculine soul and step into the adventure God created them for.

Camp Virtus et Veritas (V2)

• Virtus et Veritas (V2) Ministries cultivates authentic encounters with God & fellow man through adventure experiences and formation in virtue & truth to develop Christ-like leaders.

TIMESTAMPS

0:00 Introduction and how Ty and David each came to St. Wenceslaus
3:15 Masculine friendship and the difference between shallow friendships based on surface level topics and deep friendships based on vulnerability
12:13 Ty's conversion story of falling away from faith in high school and coming back to God through an encounter with his dad and the song _Good Good Father_
16:11 David' conversion story at Camp V2 and hearing the words, "do not be afraid" spoken directly to him during adoration
20:52 Sustaining faith beyond the "high point" experiences through Christ-centered friendships and participation in daily Mass
25:51 Closing prayer

In this episode, Tim and Jill Seberger share about how the death of their toddler son Augustine in 2022 brought a outpouring of God's blessings into their life and into the life of friends, family, and even total strangers.

Book referenced by Jill on learning to pray and journal with Sacred Scripture:
WRAP Yourself in Scripture: A Guide for Lectio Divina

TIMESTAMPS

0:00 Introduction
0:45 Tim and Jill's journey back to St. Wenceslaus
3:10 Eight sons, Natural Family Planning, and learning to trust God
10:00 Augustine's Death
18:18 How Tim and Jill got through it
26:36 How Faith and Grief go together
36:13 The Communion of Saints
38:36 Artwork of St. Augustine
45:14 The Blessings Continue
47:46 Dad Advice from Tim and Mom Advice from Jill
51:25 Closing Prayer

Lindsey Harrahill, our school principal ,shares stories about her time at St. Wenceslaus. Hear about Lindsey's time growing up at St. Wenceslaus, how she found out about the job posting, and how her becoming principal of her alma mater was God's way of welcoming her home. Lindsey discusses candidly the joys and challenges of being the principal of Nebraska's largest elementary school, displaying her love for students, her desire to grow and nurtue relationships, and her collaborative attitude when it comes to education. Above all, Lindsey's faith shines through and is the foundation for her identity not just as a school principal, but as a mother, a wife, a friend.

Erica begins her story observing how drugs, alcohol, and other worldly pursuits never lead to happiness, but rather to death. As a teenager, she knew God was real but didn't know where to find Him. That changed when her Catholic grandmother invited her to attend a Steubenville Catholic Youth Conference. After hearing a talk on confession and the words, "Welcome home," Erica's life was marked by a deep desire to be baptized, confirmed, and receive first communion. She entered OCIA and chose her grandparents as sponsors. Finally, on the day of her baptism at the Easter Vigil, Erica was brought into God's family and experienced the wholeness, the fulfilment, and the peace for which she had been searching her whole life long. Erica was home.

Now, two months into her life as a new Catholic, Erica attends Mass, goes to confession, and shares the joy of her faith in Christ with everyone she meets. She encourages listeners to choose their faith in God in a real and personal way, instead of seeing it as something that you inherit by default from your parents. Finally, she leaves us with the image of St. Anne, mother of the Blessed Virgin Mary, as a role model and saint who has inspired her to become closer to Christ.

In this episode, Olivier and Emily interview our pastor, Fr. Mike. Fr. Mike begins with an outline of his assignments throughout his 35 years as a priest and explains how teaching in a classroom setting helped him become a more creative person and a better preacher. He shares his vocation story and touches on how a weekly holy hour in the middle of the night helped shaped his call to the priesthood. Recounting a couple of highlight "God moments" of his priesthood," Fr. Mike shares about experience of the presence of Jesus at a time when he was feeling exhausted in his ministry and vocation. Finally, we wrap up the episode with a few stories from Fr. Mike's times as a pilgrim in the Holy Land.

Fr. Mike's Pastoral Assignments

• 1991: Priestly Ordination
• 1991-1993: Associate Pastor, St. Mary's, West Point; Teacher, West Point Central Catholic
• 1993-1994: Associate Pastor, St. Bernadette, Bellevue, NE
• 1994-1997: Associate Pastor, St. Patrick, Fremont; Teacher, Fremont Bergan High School
• 1997-2002: Pastor, St. Patrick, Battle Creek; Pastor, St. Francis de Sales, Schoolcraft; Teacher, Norfolk Catholic High School
• 2002-2004: Director, Rural Diaconate Program
• 2002-2007: Pastor, St. Rose of Lima, Hooper; Pastor, St. Lawrence, Scribner
• 2007-2011: Pastor, St. Joseph, Walt Hill; St. Augustine, Winnebago; Our Lady of Fatima, Macy; St. Cornelius, Homer; Associate Director of the St. Augustine Indian Mission
• 2011-2018: Pastor, St. Pius X, Omaha, NE
• 2018-2022: Servant Minister, Archdiocese of Omaha
• 2020-2022: Executive Director, Catholic Charities Omaha
• 2022-Present: Pastor, St. Wenceslaus, Omaha