EquipCast

Episode 116: The most natural way to share your faith

Episode  |  March 21st, 2023  |  54 mins 57 secs

Pope Francis is most known for telling us to love the poor and to share our faith. Many of you probably have a good handle on how to serve the poor, but what does sharing your faith look like? And can it feel natural to who each of us are as individuals? Today, I talk with Kelly Peklo and Matt Keller, participants in the Archdiocese Mentorship Program. They share their journey to understand God’s call to evangelize and how they made that call fit into their lives. They talk about learning to pray and to hear the Lord’s voice. And he wasn’t asking them to share their faith like a famous tele-evangelist or door-to-door salesman. He was calling them to use their unique strengths, to share His love with others, by simply being themselves.

Fr. Flanagan: Lessons in Kindness

Episode  |  March 14th, 2023  |  43 mins 6 secs

Today, I’ve got a story for you! It’s about Omaha’s own (God willing) future saint, Fr. Edward Flanagan. If you’ve seen the 1938 biopic on his life, you might think you know all about him. However, Boys Town’s Historian, Thomas Lynch, shares a wealth of stories that are sure to inspire. Fr. Flanagan was ahead of his time with the changes he introduced. He revolutionized the care for orphans and other wards of the state. He integrated people of different ethnicities and religions into one community. And, he had a personal devotion to the Lord which caused him to always meet hatred with love.

Reviving a dying parish

Episode  |  March 7th, 2023  |  54 mins 15 secs

St. Frances Cabrini, one of our oldest and most historic parishes, was dying. And if its story followed the usual pattern, it would be closed. Instead, the parish is not only growing, but its people are thriving. So how did this community reinvent itself in less than 7 years? The parish leaders embraced a relationship with the Holy Spirit. They made it a priority to notice individuals, to notice their gifts, and to invite those gifts to be used in specific ways. They now have a culture of invitation. Every parishioner knows they should be reaching out to others, drawing the community together and to the person of Christ.

Coach's Corner 3: When Events Don't Make a Difference

Episode  |  February 28th, 2023  |  10 mins 18 secs

We all have experience planning events. In the family setting, I’m talking weddings, vacations, and holiday gatherings. Many of you, I’m sure, also have experience planning an event for your parish. Oftentimes, the Lord puts something on your heart. Perhaps you noticed a need that wasn’t being met, and so to address the problem, you and a few others planned an event. At first, the work went well, but eventually, after a few months or years, you start to notice that the event is no longer making an impact. Either people aren’t coming any more, or they leave unchanged. What can be done? Tune in for a 10 minute episode, where I give tips to ensure that the events you are involved in make a difference.

Episode 113: Gender, Jesus & Evangelization with Fr. Sean Kilcawley

Episode  |  February 21st, 2023  |  57 mins 50 secs

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Today I talk to Fr. Sean Kilcawley of the Diocese of Lincoln. Over the years, the Lord has called him into ministry with people who struggle with addiction and/or question their identity. He has made a career out of answering the question: What would it be like to make it safe for people to name the difficult things in their hearts? Specifically, we dig into the topic of gender identity. Fr. Kilcawley gives practical guidance on how to talk to people about this topic. (Spoiler: We should ask more questions than make arguments.) He also challenges us to be connected to Jesus because our life experiences and connection with the Lord give us the grace to walk with others.

Episode 112: Intentional Accompaniment with Michael Hall

Episode  |  February 14th, 2023  |  52 mins 55 secs

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I hear so many people these days saying things like, “I feel the Lord calling me to share my faith with others.” But for so many of us, evangelization is new and daunting.
Today, I invited, Michael Hall to discuss his book "Intentional Accompaniment". Michael works for Catholic Christian Outreach which is an incredible ministry based in Canada. He has taken their tools and techniques for evangelization and applied them to the everyday settings of parish and family life. And, he makes it easy! Michael provides some fantastic baby steps for sharing one’s faith more boldly and fruitfully.

Coach's Corner 2: Closing Churches

Episode  |  February 7th, 2023  |  8 mins 16 secs

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Did you know that in July of this year more than 20 parishes in our diocese will cease having Sunday Mass? Maybe one of these parishes is your own. The cessation of Sunday Mass will be one of the hardest events for faithful Catholics to process. It feels like the death of a loved one. However, this is not the first time God's people have had to deal with their worship in a particular place coming to an end. I’d like to offer lessons from the past. Why is this happening and what should our response be?

Episode 111: The Importance of Our Catholic Schools

Episode  |  January 31st, 2023  |  59 mins 24 secs

Did you know that since 1990 more than 400 new Catholic schools have opened in the United States? Unfortunately, during that same period there's been a net loss of more than 760 Catholic schools. We now have fewer total students in Catholic schools in the United States then we did in 1930 despite the fact that the Catholic population has tripled since then. I got a chance to sit down with Archbishop J. Michael Miller, CSB. He served as the secretary for the Congregation for Catholic Education in Rome, and so we discuss what the Church teaches about our Catholic schools. We go over the history of how participation in our schools has decreased, the importance of a partnership with parents, and the five essential marks of Catholic schools. Catholic schools have a beautiful mission to evangelize, so for anyone who loves schools and loves the mission of the Church, this episode is for you!

Episode 110: Faith & Hope Amidst Pastoral Planning

Episode  |  January 24th, 2023  |  46 mins 21 secs

By now, you’ve probably heard about the Journey of Faith. This is the archdiocese’s name for pastoral planning, the process by which a diocese tries to properly allocate its resources when faced with changing demographics, population shifts, and the decreasing availability of priests. That all sounds very clinical, but at the heart of it, we know that the people of our diocese will experience loss. So today, I bring you Kathy Slusarski. She is a born and raised Nebraskan, widow, and grandmother of 11, and Kathy has been through pastoral planning three times. This could have left her hardened and bitter, but instead, she views her Catholic faith as something that transcends the physical location of a church and is confident that Jesus is with them no matter where they worship. She has found hope through her faith and community and by embracing the transformative power of Jesus.

Episode 109: Why go it alone when you can Live Lent Together?

Episode  |  January 17th, 2023  |  44 mins 13 secs

I’ve told you before that I’m convinced small faith sharing groups will bring renewal to our Church. One of my favorite ways to get small groups started in a parish is through Live Lent Together. This initiative of the Archdiocese of Omaha allows people who are new to the work of evangelization to take a first step into mission. I’ve also seen it bear great fruit in the lives of participants. Today, I bring you three stories of Live Lent Together small groups and the fruit of shared faith.

P.S. Want to check out a training to see if Live Lent Together is right for you? Go to ArchOmaha.org/Lent

Episode 108: Ministering to Young Mothers

Episode  |  December 13th, 2022  |  46 mins 35 secs

In the world of evangelization, there is a lot of talk about how to reach families because the young family is often the most underserved demographic of our parishes. But how do we catch them when parents are so often busy with work, their children’s extracurricular activities, and all the craziness that just comes with growing a family? The answer: Begin with moms. Over the years, my lovely wife, Kim, and I have found ourselves ministering to mothers. This has taught us that the heart of family is the mother, and she is often staving for connection and community. So today, we tell you stories of connecting with the young, busy moms and how that has led to evangelizing the family.

Episode 107: The Gift in Everyone

Episode  |  December 6th, 2022  |  44 mins 5 secs

Have you ever noticed that the unique story of one person can highlight a universal truth about humanity? I often ponder how the Lord uses the story of someone who is seemingly different from myself to teach me that we’re not so different after all. Today, I talk with Kathy Miklas about her work at QLI, a world-class rehabilitation center in Omaha. She shares with us her story of staring a faith sharing group with her clients and of how, through listening, she has come to the conviction that there are gifts in everyone that need to be shared.