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9: Full Circle with Deacon Dan Rouse
3 Plays1 year ago
Our guest this week is a Deacon ordained to serve the Archdiocese of Dubuque, currently assigned to St. Patrick’s in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. After going through RCIA - twice- and having an illuminating encounter with the Eucharist in Scripture, Deacon Dan Rouse talks about his journey to being fully initiated into the Catholic Church.
The website and resources referenced can be found here:
The Gospel of John Chapter 6 (New American Bible)
https://dbqarch.org/archdiocesan-eucharistic-revival
https://www.eucharisticrevival.org/
Recommended
Transcript
Introductions from Pastoral Team
00:00:17
Speaker
Hello, everyone, and happy Lent.
00:00:19
Speaker
My name is Father Jacob Rouse, and I'm the pastor of Notre Dame Parish in Cresco, Iowa, and it is my distinct pleasure to welcome you to the Dubuque-Auristic Revival podcast.
00:00:29
Speaker
Because that's the name we're going with.
00:00:31
Speaker
Because that, yeah, that's our tagline, yes.
00:00:33
Speaker
I'm joined by my brother in Christ, Father Kevin Earlywine, and I'd like him to introduce himself, and if he's ever been on the radio before.
00:00:45
Speaker
Ooh, thank you.
00:00:45
Speaker
I am, in fact, Father Kevin Earlywine, pastor of St.
00:00:50
Speaker
Patrick's in Hampton, and
00:00:52
Speaker
St.
00:00:52
Speaker
Mary's in Ackley.
00:00:55
Speaker
And as far as being on the radio, I don't know if I've formally been on the radio or not.
00:01:00
Speaker
I don't actually specifically recall.
00:01:02
Speaker
However, I was literally, as of this week, someone again told me that I guess I have a good voice for radio.
00:01:10
Speaker
I gave a talk at a parish mission this past week.
00:01:13
Speaker
And someone said that they said, you have such a great voice for radio, you know.
00:01:18
Speaker
And then, of course, people say, and you have the face for it, too.
00:01:22
Speaker
Very funny.
00:01:24
Speaker
I was on the radio during covid.
00:01:29
Speaker
I was my voice was aired on the radio.
00:01:31
Speaker
I didn't actually sit on the radio, but I would go in and just give little updates to the people listening in the town.
00:01:38
Speaker
But actually in high school, Xavier High School, we had a band garage sale, which was basically a bunch of junk brought into the band room and then people walked around and bought stuff.
00:01:50
Speaker
And to promote that, there was five or six of us that went in and played pep band songs for the Bob Bruce Radio Experience.
00:01:59
Speaker
Wow.
00:02:00
Speaker
Wow.
00:02:01
Speaker
Yeah, it was very, very loud, but it was our first time on the radio and it was very funny.
00:02:07
Speaker
Wow.
00:02:09
Speaker
We're joined today by Deacon Dan Rouse, who is my father.
00:02:15
Speaker
So I'd like Deacon Dan to please introduce, yeah, my dad.
00:02:18
Speaker
I'd like him to introduce himself and if he has ever been on the radio before.
00:02:22
Speaker
Absolutely.
00:02:23
Speaker
I am father of the father.
00:02:24
Speaker
Very funny.
00:02:25
Speaker
Yeah, that joke never gets old, does it?
00:02:27
Speaker
You're great with the punny jokes here.
00:02:29
Speaker
That's right.
00:02:31
Speaker
So I'm a permanent deacon ordained for the Archdiocese of Dubuque and currently assigned to St.
00:02:36
Speaker
Patrick's Parish in Cedar Rapids.
00:02:38
Speaker
I was ordained in 2019, so coming up July of this year will be my five-year anniversary already.
00:02:45
Speaker
It's hard to believe that, but I just really enjoy being a deacon.
00:02:50
Speaker
Just the blessings of
00:02:51
Speaker
of entering into people's lives.
00:02:53
Speaker
As you both know, as priests, you do so more than I do, but that's just been such a blessing to me.
00:02:59
Speaker
And as far as being on the radio, yes, I have.
00:03:02
Speaker
I actually started in radio in high school in Independence, Iowa, where I was born and raised.
Deacon Dan's Radio and Faith Journey
00:03:09
Speaker
I worked for the radio station called K-O-U-R,
00:03:13
Speaker
and spelled backwards, that's, are you okay?
00:03:15
Speaker
That's kind of the joke around town.
00:03:17
Speaker
But that kind of led me to my going to Kirkwood for communications and onto UNI.
00:03:24
Speaker
And I worked at Public Radio, worked at Q103, which is now Z102.9 for a couple of summers, worked for KCCK.
00:03:33
Speaker
And like I said, KUNI did some news stories for them and got into communications that way.
00:03:38
Speaker
So
00:03:39
Speaker
Now I'm a production manager for a company called On Media.
00:03:43
Speaker
We produce videos of all sizes, all contents for any kind of platform.
00:03:48
Speaker
So that's kind of how I got started with that.
00:03:53
Speaker
Very good.
00:03:54
Speaker
I like how you said when you said you were ordained deacon.
00:03:59
Speaker
Congrats on five years.
00:04:00
Speaker
2019 you were ordained?
00:04:02
Speaker
Yes.
00:04:03
Speaker
Remember, you always tell me you were ordained a year before me.
00:04:06
Speaker
You always remind me of that.
00:04:07
Speaker
Yeah, I was just about to say that.
00:04:09
Speaker
Yeah, I do need ordination.
00:04:10
Speaker
Anyway, I noticed how you said you are ordained for the Archdiocese of Dubuque, but assigned at St.
00:04:17
Speaker
Patrick's in Cedar Rapids.
00:04:18
Speaker
Why did you word it that way?
00:04:20
Speaker
Well, because that's really what, you know, when I am ordained, when deacons are ordained, they make a promise to be obedient to the bishop and they are ordained to the archdiocese.
00:04:31
Speaker
and the archbishop actually is the one who makes the assignments, most of the time, you know, 99% of the time, deacons are assigned to their parish of origin, the parish that they, you know, are members of.
00:04:41
Speaker
But there are times where they may be asked to move to a different parish by the, you know, because the archbishop sees a need in a certain place.
00:04:51
Speaker
I actually picked that up from Deacon Jim Thill.
00:04:53
Speaker
I was at a
00:04:54
Speaker
a memorial or a vigil service, and that's how he introduced himself to the assembly.
00:04:59
Speaker
So I do that every time I introduce myself as, as I just kind of a weight of, of kind of formation and information about the deaconate.
00:05:08
Speaker
I, sometimes people ask me, it's like, well, that's kind of a,
00:05:11
Speaker
strange way to introduce yourself.
00:05:12
Speaker
But, you know, I still consider myself obviously a deacon at St.
00:05:16
Speaker
Patrick's.
00:05:17
Speaker
You know, it's not that I don't want to identify with that, but that's basically how the permanent deacons are assigned.
00:05:26
Speaker
Very enlightening.
00:05:28
Speaker
Yeah.
00:05:28
Speaker
And it's a reminder that, of course, the reality of what it means to be church, that we are part of the church that is our particular parish, right, our local parish, but also the reality of the church that is the archdiocese united together in communion with the archbishop, which, of course, is in communion with all the bishops and communion with the bishop of Rome, that is the pope.
00:05:49
Speaker
And that's Catholic Ecclesiology 101.
00:05:52
Speaker
which we could do a whole podcast episode on Catholic ecclesiology, but we will not today, because this is the Eucharistic revival, so we're going to talk about the Eucharist today.
00:06:03
Speaker
So we know our guest, Deacon Dan Rouse, my father, is an ordained minister in the Catholic Church.
00:06:10
Speaker
But he wasn't always that way because we know he was ordained in 2019.
00:06:14
Speaker
But he wasn't always Catholic either.
00:06:16
Speaker
And I know that the Eucharist and scripture and faith have played a big role in his life.
00:06:23
Speaker
And I was curious if you could walk us a little bit through, walk us through kind of how you got to where you are today.
00:06:30
Speaker
Sure.
00:06:31
Speaker
Absolutely.
00:06:32
Speaker
First of all, I'm just very grateful to be on this podcast.
00:06:35
Speaker
I really enjoy the name when Father Jacob shared that with me to be Eucharistic.
00:06:40
Speaker
I know you get different reactions from different people, but I think it's cool.
00:06:43
Speaker
Very creative.
00:06:44
Speaker
I usually get groans and eye rolls when I tell people the name of the podcast, but it's memorable.
00:06:49
Speaker
Thank you for enjoying it.
00:06:50
Speaker
Absolutely.
00:06:51
Speaker
Yeah.
00:06:51
Speaker
Well, I was, like I said, I was born and raised in Independence.
00:06:56
Speaker
I was baptized on April 11th, 1965 at First Presbyterian Church in Independence by Reverend Elman Ward.
00:07:06
Speaker
So growing up Presbyterian, attending Sunday school and vacation Bible school.
00:07:12
Speaker
that really is the foundation of my faith.
00:07:15
Speaker
That's where I learned about Jesus.
00:07:16
Speaker
That's where I learned, you know, the Bible songs that most kids learn, you know, the Bible stories of David and Goliath and Noah and, and, you know, all of those ones that you, that you hear and, and, and read, you know, Jonah and, and all those.
00:07:31
Speaker
And,
00:07:31
Speaker
There were some very influential adults that taught Sunday school that one of them, Mrs. Malick, Mrs. Koskamp, just had a heart for the Lord.
00:07:40
Speaker
I really appreciate that.
00:07:43
Speaker
There were also many other people who taught me about Jesus, God, and the Bible, including my mother, Jean Rouse.
00:07:50
Speaker
She taught Sunday school and vacation Bible school for many years.
00:07:54
Speaker
So, you know, that was kind
Initial Catholic Mass Experience
00:07:56
Speaker
of my foundation.
00:07:56
Speaker
That was my upbringing of knowing the Bible stories and just learning about that.
00:08:02
Speaker
And growing up in that community was really, really special to me.
00:08:06
Speaker
A lot of fond memories.
00:08:07
Speaker
I still go back there.
00:08:08
Speaker
When I go visit my mom, I will go to church with her.
00:08:12
Speaker
And there's still a few people that are still around, but just the memories of being there really mean a lot to me.
00:08:19
Speaker
So communion, which is kind of what we're talking about.
00:08:22
Speaker
So as Presbyterians, as many Protestants, we would celebrate communion about three to four times a year.
00:08:32
Speaker
And it was basically done in memory of, you know, that's basically, you know, Jesus does say, do this in memory of me.
00:08:40
Speaker
So basically it was done as kind of a memorial, so to speak.
00:08:43
Speaker
Mm-hmm.
00:08:44
Speaker
You know, we had in each church is a little different, but I remember it at First Presbyterian.
00:08:49
Speaker
We had a tray that was passed around and had little cubes of bread that were cut up, just regular bread.
00:08:55
Speaker
And then we have little teeny tiny shot glasses of grape juice.
00:09:00
Speaker
So so this was basically a symbol.
00:09:02
Speaker
And that's what we used for communion.
00:09:04
Speaker
I didn't think anything about it.
00:09:06
Speaker
That's what I saw everybody doing as adults.
00:09:09
Speaker
I think it was, I can't remember, I should have looked into this, but I think it was once I was confirmed, then I could receive communion.
00:09:16
Speaker
So basically about eighth grade.
00:09:18
Speaker
So then I was able to eat the bread and then take a shot out of a little shot glass.
00:09:22
Speaker
And they also had these little holders in the pew too that you would put them in.
00:09:27
Speaker
So yeah.
00:09:28
Speaker
So I went through, you know, youth group growing up in middle school and high school and really enjoyed that.
00:09:34
Speaker
Hanging out with, you know, some classmates that I went to school with, some that I didn't, but most of them I knew pretty well.
00:09:43
Speaker
But, you know, like most young people, once they hit college, they kind of fall away.
00:09:48
Speaker
And I kind of did the same thing.
00:09:50
Speaker
You know, to me, it didn't mean anything to me anymore.
00:09:53
Speaker
I can't really put my finger on an exact, you know, incident or anything, but it was just like, you know, I had other interests.
00:09:59
Speaker
I wanted to do other things, and I felt like a hypocrite, actually, by going to church.
00:10:03
Speaker
Because to me, it's like, okay, by going to church, I'm saying this means something to me, and it didn't at the time.
00:10:09
Speaker
So I just stopped going.
00:10:10
Speaker
Yeah.
00:10:12
Speaker
But however, in high school, I did start dating this Catholic young lady named Janie.
00:10:18
Speaker
We were in speech and choir and plays and musicals, and we kind of hung out with the same group of people.
00:10:24
Speaker
So we actually, we became friends first.
00:10:26
Speaker
And then we didn't start dating until like the spring of our senior year.
00:10:31
Speaker
And I remember when my mom found out that I was dating a Catholic, she was like, well, you know, she's Catholic, right?
00:10:37
Speaker
And I'm like,
00:10:37
Speaker
Yeah, so?
00:10:39
Speaker
So what?
00:10:40
Speaker
No big deal.
00:10:41
Speaker
So I didn't really think anything about it.
00:10:44
Speaker
So I had never been to a Catholic mass.
00:10:48
Speaker
I mean, I'd been inside of a Catholic church, like for weddings, I think.
00:10:52
Speaker
But I'd never been to a Catholic mass until I was 18 years old.
00:10:56
Speaker
In fact, I remember we were, Janie's family is from Mason City.
00:11:00
Speaker
And after graduation from high school, she and her family moved up to Mason City to her grandmother's house.
00:11:06
Speaker
And it's just a couple blocks from St.
00:11:08
Speaker
Joseph's in Mason City.
00:11:09
Speaker
Those that are familiar with it know it's on old Highway 18.
00:11:13
Speaker
But we were on a Saturday afternoon.
00:11:15
Speaker
It was a pretty nice day.
00:11:16
Speaker
We were out pulling weeds and working outside.
00:11:18
Speaker
And she said, okay, we're going to have to stop about three o'clock or so to get ready for church.
00:11:25
Speaker
And I was thinking, well, why would you do that?
00:11:29
Speaker
Growing up in Independence, we went to horse shows a lot.
00:11:31
Speaker
So
00:11:32
Speaker
Horse shows are on Sundays.
00:11:33
Speaker
So a lot of times we wouldn't go to church.
00:11:35
Speaker
We would go to a horse show instead.
00:11:36
Speaker
So I'm thinking, you know, we've got a lot of work to do.
00:11:39
Speaker
It's a beautiful day.
00:11:40
Speaker
Why would you keep working and not go to church?
00:11:43
Speaker
But I thought, okay, if I'm going to marry this woman, I probably should go to church and just see what this is all about.
00:11:51
Speaker
So...
00:11:52
Speaker
Anyway, we got ready for church.
00:11:53
Speaker
We walked down the alley a couple blocks to St.
00:11:57
Speaker
Joe's, and we walked in.
00:11:59
Speaker
And one of the things I noticed is that, you know, nobody handed out any kind of a bulletin or worship aid.
00:12:05
Speaker
You know, most Protestant churches back in the day, at least, I don't know about now, but you get a bulletin that tells you, okay, here's the readings.
00:12:12
Speaker
Here's when you're supposed to sit.
00:12:13
Speaker
Here's when you're supposed to stand.
00:12:15
Speaker
Here's what you're supposed to say.
00:12:16
Speaker
Here's what the pastor's going to say.
00:12:17
Speaker
So you know exactly what's going to happen.
00:12:20
Speaker
So I walked in with Janie and her family and everybody sat down and I didn't get that.
00:12:25
Speaker
I thought, OK, we'll just kind of see what happens.
00:12:28
Speaker
So as mass starts, this was back in the 80s.
00:12:30
Speaker
So there was a lot of smells and bells, as some people say.
00:12:34
Speaker
So I have all these people doing these signs, saying these things, repeating these things, following along.
00:12:40
Speaker
And I had no idea what was going on.
00:12:42
Speaker
I was totally lost.
00:12:44
Speaker
And I thought to myself, this is the weirdest thing I have ever seen in my life.
00:12:49
Speaker
I did not feel comfortable at all.
00:12:51
Speaker
So when it came time for communion, you know, of course, everybody goes forward.
00:12:55
Speaker
I think I must've stayed in the seat because I had no idea what was going on.
00:12:59
Speaker
And I saw these people go forward and receive this little piece of something and then drink out of the same cup.
00:13:05
Speaker
I'm like, that's gross.
00:13:09
Speaker
So on the way home,
00:13:13
Speaker
I didn't have much sense when I was younger.
00:13:15
Speaker
I still don't, but I had even less when I was younger.
00:13:17
Speaker
The way home, I told Janie, I said, that was the weirdest thing I have ever seen in my life.
00:13:22
Speaker
I don't ever want to go back.
00:13:24
Speaker
That was just weird.
00:13:26
Speaker
And, you know, I tell people if it would have been on the other foot, if she would have said that to me, I would have said, well, I don't know if we should
00:13:34
Speaker
keep seeing each other.
00:13:35
Speaker
Well, I don't know.
00:13:36
Speaker
I don't know why she kept dating me.
00:13:37
Speaker
Why she, you know, ended up, you know, we got engaged and got married, but I don't know what she saw in me, but you know, there wasn't much there to see as far as faith wise.
00:13:46
Speaker
And I knew faith was very important to her.
00:13:48
Speaker
She would go to mass every Sunday.
00:13:50
Speaker
If she would come down to visit me at Kirkwood, or if she was wherever we were at, she would make sure that she went to mass.
00:13:56
Speaker
And, you know, and, and to me that, again, that wasn't a big thing to me at all.
00:14:02
Speaker
Well, in 1987, May 23rd, 1987, we got married at
Conversion and RCIA Experience
00:14:07
Speaker
St.
00:14:07
Speaker
John's Catholic Church in Independence.
00:14:10
Speaker
In fact, Father Doug Wathier witnessed our vows.
00:14:15
Speaker
So he met with us for marriage prep, and he witnessed our vows.
00:14:21
Speaker
I did have, though, my Catholic pastor, or excuse me, my Presbyterian pastor at the time, he actually gave the homily.
00:14:28
Speaker
but Father Walthier witnessed our vows.
00:14:30
Speaker
And I don't know why, I think probably just because even though faith wasn't important to me at that time, it was important to have part of my foundation.
00:14:37
Speaker
So Reverend B.J.
00:14:39
Speaker
Eukenaugh was actually there and he gave the sermon or the homily.
00:14:44
Speaker
So shortly after then, we moved to Cedar Rapids.
00:14:47
Speaker
We both got jobs.
00:14:48
Speaker
And in 1989,
00:14:51
Speaker
I had a very profound conversion experience.
00:14:54
Speaker
It's almost like a St.
00:14:55
Speaker
Paul experience.
00:14:56
Speaker
I'm not going to go into detail here.
00:14:57
Speaker
That's for another podcast.
00:14:58
Speaker
But I just went from not going to church, not really caring about church to
00:15:04
Speaker
all of a sudden wanting to read the Bible, wanting to really get involved in my faith.
00:15:09
Speaker
And the faith that I wanted to get involved with was the only faith I knew, which was the Presbyterian Church.
00:15:14
Speaker
So that next weekend, I went to Christ Church Presbyterian, which is on First Avenue in Cedar Rapids.
00:15:21
Speaker
And I went in and started going to adult Bible study, started going to church there.
00:15:27
Speaker
But I also wanted to have a shared faith with my wife, with Janie.
00:15:30
Speaker
So I started attending mass with her.
00:15:32
Speaker
And of course, I still, you know, that was probably the second time I'd been to mass.
00:15:37
Speaker
Still, I had really no idea what was going on, you know, but I went with her.
00:15:41
Speaker
And it was interesting because some Protestant churches will follow the same liturgical reading cycle as the Catholic church does.
00:15:50
Speaker
So sometimes it was really kind of neat.
00:15:52
Speaker
So we would go to four o'clock mass on Saturday at St.
00:15:56
Speaker
Jude's, and then we would go to the Presbyterian church and
00:16:00
Speaker
on Sunday.
00:16:01
Speaker
Most of the time, Janie would go with me, but not always.
00:16:04
Speaker
But it was always interesting when they would have the same readings and then the priest and the pastor would preach on or give a homily about the same readings.
00:16:12
Speaker
It was kind of neat to see the different correlations of what each person saw in that.
00:16:19
Speaker
But a lot of times on the way home, when we were leaving Christ Church Presbyterian, Janie would say, you know, it didn't really feel like church.
00:16:28
Speaker
I'm like, what do you mean it didn't feel like church?
00:16:31
Speaker
It was an hour and a half long.
00:16:32
Speaker
The pastor for 30 minutes.
00:16:34
Speaker
What do you mean it wasn't like church?
00:16:36
Speaker
You know, we had great music, a great message, great community.
00:16:39
Speaker
Well, what she meant was that there was no communion.
00:16:42
Speaker
there was no Eucharist.
00:16:43
Speaker
I didn't know that at the time.
00:16:45
Speaker
I'm sure she probably didn't.
00:16:48
Speaker
She knew that, but she probably not enough to vocalize it.
00:16:50
Speaker
But that's why it didn't feel like church because there was no Eucharist.
00:16:54
Speaker
So that continued on for a while.
00:16:57
Speaker
And, you know, I would, I would, you know, go to mass with her.
00:17:00
Speaker
And of course I had a lot of questions about things.
00:17:03
Speaker
I, at the time,
00:17:05
Speaker
there was a radio station in Cedar Rapids that aired a lot of fundamentalist, Baptist, evangelical preachers, Dr. James Dobson, Chuck Swindoll, Charles Stanley, all those.
00:17:14
Speaker
So that was kind of how my formation as an adult was formed, was listening to these men.
00:17:20
Speaker
I mean, great preachers, they have great messages, but again, pretty much, you know, born again fundamentalist, sola scriptura, I would count myself at that time in that camp, that type of person.
00:17:32
Speaker
So that's kind of where I was getting my
00:17:34
Speaker
my formation from.
00:17:36
Speaker
So, you know, I'd go to, go to mass with Janie.
00:17:38
Speaker
I'd have all sorts of questions.
00:17:40
Speaker
It's like, well, why, why are they doing that?
00:17:41
Speaker
Why do they say that?
00:17:42
Speaker
What's, what's all that about?
00:17:44
Speaker
And of course, communion time, I would see people go up and this is, this is very judgmental, but I would see people go up and,
00:17:51
Speaker
You know, you could just kind of tell they didn't really know what they were doing.
00:17:54
Speaker
You know, again, very judgmental of me to say that.
00:17:58
Speaker
So, you know, I started to think, well, you know, maybe, you know, I want to receive too.
00:18:03
Speaker
I'm a born again Christian.
00:18:05
Speaker
I've had Jesus in my heart.
00:18:06
Speaker
I should be able to receive.
00:18:09
Speaker
But shortly after that, one of the people at the front of church before mass, they were saying, hey, the RCIA is coming up.
00:18:16
Speaker
And it's for people that want to learn about the faith, want to join the faith, come and join the church.
00:18:22
Speaker
And I thought, I'm going to go talk to that guy.
00:18:25
Speaker
So I talked to him and I said, hey, what?
00:18:28
Speaker
if I just want to learn more about the Catholic church, can I come to these classes?
00:18:32
Speaker
I said, I don't want to become Catholic.
00:18:34
Speaker
Okay.
00:18:35
Speaker
So if I, if I can, if I have to become Catholic, then I don't want to go to these classes, but if I can just go and just kind of learn.
00:18:42
Speaker
And he said, sure.
00:18:43
Speaker
Yeah.
00:18:43
Speaker
Why not?
00:18:44
Speaker
So Janie and I started going together and we learned quite a bit.
00:18:48
Speaker
In fact, Janie ended up being a sponsor of a young lady at the time.
00:18:51
Speaker
So I was just going along, just kind of learning more about the faith.
00:18:55
Speaker
And Janie and I actually grew a lot and learned more about the faith as we went along.
00:19:00
Speaker
But, you know, the topic of communion obviously came up, you know, the Eucharist.
00:19:05
Speaker
And I had some...
00:19:07
Speaker
we'll say interesting conversations with the priest that was there at the time.
00:19:13
Speaker
I'm surprised he just didn't haul off and slug me actually.
00:19:15
Speaker
But I was very, very arrogant.
00:19:17
Speaker
It's like, well, you know, I told him what I saw.
00:19:20
Speaker
It's like, well, I'm a born again Christian.
00:19:22
Speaker
Why can't I go forward?
00:19:23
Speaker
I see these people going forward.
00:19:25
Speaker
They really don't seem to know what they're doing.
00:19:28
Speaker
why can't I receive?
00:19:29
Speaker
And, and, you know, he told me about real presence and you need to believe everything.
00:19:33
Speaker
And I'm like, you know, again, it went in one ear, out the other, I could just see that, you know, I'm, I'm born again Christian.
00:19:38
Speaker
I should be able to receive.
00:19:40
Speaker
So I would, I would about that time too, they started allowing, or at least it was a practice that non-Catholicists could come forward for a blessing.
00:19:50
Speaker
Now I know it's pretty common, but back in the,
00:19:52
Speaker
you know, late 80s, it was something kind of new, at least.
00:19:56
Speaker
So they said that if you wanted to, you could come forward with your arms crossed and receive a blessing.
00:20:01
Speaker
And I thought, well, I'm going to do that at least, you know, so I can feel part of the assembly, part of the community there.
00:20:06
Speaker
So I would do that.
00:20:08
Speaker
And I would go back after, you know, everybody else was kneeling and I would pray.
00:20:13
Speaker
And again, I was very arrogant at the time.
00:20:15
Speaker
My prayer was, Lord, I want to receive communion one day.
00:20:20
Speaker
One day I want to receive communion.
00:20:23
Speaker
But it wasn't like, okay, I'm going to want to become Catholic.
00:20:27
Speaker
I want the church to change.
00:20:28
Speaker
I want to receive communion just like everybody else without joining the church, without becoming Catholic.
00:20:36
Speaker
But that was my prayer.
00:20:37
Speaker
Very arrogant, very conceited, very ignorant, actually, too.
00:20:40
Speaker
Yeah.
00:20:41
Speaker
I still pray.
00:20:44
Speaker
So in 1994, Janie and I had started going to marriage encounters shortly after we were married.
00:20:50
Speaker
So there was a group of that we went to marriage encounter and afterwards they have communities or circles that meet in people's houses.
00:20:56
Speaker
And pretty much everybody was Catholic there.
00:21:00
Speaker
And so we got to know some of the couples.
00:21:02
Speaker
Also, I should interject too, before this time, I hadn't really seen outside of Janie and her mom and a few other Catholics, I hadn't really seen
00:21:10
Speaker
you know, the Catholic faith lived out or the Christian faith.
00:21:13
Speaker
So in my mind, you know, to be Catholic and Christian, maybe, maybe you could do that, but I hadn't really see it lived out.
00:21:23
Speaker
That was one of the reasons I really didn't feel a calling to become Catholic.
00:21:27
Speaker
So some guys in our marriage encounter group started talking about this thing called promise keepers.
00:21:32
Speaker
And I had heard about this through
00:21:33
Speaker
Dr. James Dobson and a lot of the other speakers I was listening to on the radio.
00:21:37
Speaker
So they got a group of us together to go out to Indianapolis, took a bus ride out there.
00:21:42
Speaker
In 1994, we attended Promise Keepers.
00:21:45
Speaker
And that was just awesome, seeing a stadium of 70,000 men praising God and listening to these speakers and singing and just there for Jesus and not there for a sports team or drinking beer or whatever.
00:21:57
Speaker
It was just really awesome.
00:21:58
Speaker
So after we got back, a handful of us started meeting
00:22:02
Speaker
just to kind of talk about our experience.
00:22:04
Speaker
And there was about six of us that we started getting together and just talking about, okay, what did we hear?
00:22:10
Speaker
We heard basically we need to be better men.
00:22:12
Speaker
We need to read scripture.
00:22:13
Speaker
We need to pray with our families to be men of faith.
00:22:16
Speaker
And our group of six pretty much grew to about 10 to 12 to pretty soon 20 very quickly.
00:22:22
Speaker
This is what
00:22:23
Speaker
The men of action, those of you that have heard of men of action, that was kind of the nucleus of men of action.
00:22:30
Speaker
Tony May was pretty much the nucleus of that, kind of getting things going with that.
00:22:35
Speaker
And I'm pretty sure I was the only non-Catholic at the time.
00:22:38
Speaker
And these men accepted me.
00:22:39
Speaker
That was never really an issue at all that, okay, you're the token Protestant or we're Catholic and you're not.
00:22:45
Speaker
But it really struck me to my heart that these men were Catholic,
00:22:51
Speaker
they loved Jesus, they loved their wives, they knew scripture, they prayed, and they really truly lived out their faith.
00:22:57
Speaker
I was blown away by that.
00:22:59
Speaker
I'd never seen that before.
00:23:00
Speaker
So that really had an impact on me.
00:23:02
Speaker
And I think it also speaks to
00:23:04
Speaker
The impact that men can have with other people.
00:23:07
Speaker
Not only were these guys very prayerful, but also they struggled with a lot of the same things I did.
00:23:13
Speaker
You know, I was thinking, boy, nobody else struggles with anger or whatever else I struggle with.
00:23:18
Speaker
But these guys, part of Promise Keepers is that in the groups of accountability, you share, here's areas I struggle.
00:23:24
Speaker
Here's how I want you to pray for me.
00:23:26
Speaker
So they really opened themselves up.
00:23:28
Speaker
And I thought, wow, if these guys, as prayerful as they are, they still struggle with things.
00:23:32
Speaker
Well, you know, maybe there's hope for me.
00:23:35
Speaker
But so this was something we met every Tuesday morning at 6 a.m.
00:23:40
Speaker
at the Cozy Inn out on First Avenue.
00:23:43
Speaker
We would have, I think, a Bible study and we would spend some time in prayer and accountability and asking each other questions to make sure we were staying on track and
00:23:51
Speaker
I really was kind of growing in my faith and I really appreciated this.
00:23:54
Speaker
Again, didn't feel called to become Catholic, but it just was another experience in my step of my journey of faith.
00:24:02
Speaker
shortly after that time, probably in 96 or so, 97 maybe, I attended a CEW, Christian Experience Weekend.
00:24:11
Speaker
And actually, I had been part of the team and I was on this weekend.
00:24:15
Speaker
And one of the talks that is given on the weekend is about the sacraments.
00:24:21
Speaker
And I think it's like Saturday afternoon and it's after lunch, everybody's kind of tired.
00:24:26
Speaker
So after the talk,
00:24:27
Speaker
I was sitting at the table and I knew myself and another gentleman, why I was the only non-Catholic at the time.
00:24:33
Speaker
So after the talk, I'm like, okay, you know, father talked about, you know, the Eucharist and I know what, what Catholics believe.
00:24:40
Speaker
You believe it's the true body and blood of Jesus, but what do you personally believe?
00:24:43
Speaker
What, what are some things that you believe about that?
00:24:46
Speaker
And a couple of guys said, well, you know, after I receive, I feel, you know, just at peace.
00:24:51
Speaker
And a couple of them said, well, I remember my first communion and how special that was.
00:24:55
Speaker
And I was like, okay, that really wasn't doing it for me.
00:24:59
Speaker
Gentleman sitting next to me, Bernard Schnaufer, he knew about me.
00:25:03
Speaker
He knew that I was a fundamentalist, soulless scripture, a Catholic or a Christian.
00:25:08
Speaker
You know, if it wasn't in the Bible, I didn't believe it.
00:25:11
Speaker
So he opens up his Bible to John six and just, we basically kind of ignore the rest of the group.
00:25:17
Speaker
And he walked me through the bread of life discourse.
00:25:20
Speaker
Now, I had read the Bible cover to cover at least three, four times, you know, but, you know, again, with my upbringing of the Eucharist or communion being just a symbol, I just kind of glanced
Understanding the Eucharist
00:25:32
Speaker
over it.
00:25:32
Speaker
The words didn't really sink in.
00:25:34
Speaker
But he took his time and explained to me everything that was in there.
00:25:37
Speaker
You know, Jesus says many times, you know, my body is the bread.
00:25:43
Speaker
My blood is the wine.
00:25:44
Speaker
And unless you eat and drink, you will not have life, eternal life.
00:25:48
Speaker
As he was reading that to me, I was like, wow, how could I have never really understood this before?
00:25:57
Speaker
You know, it was almost like scales kind of fell off my eyes.
00:26:00
Speaker
It's like, it was almost like God was saying, okay, if you call yourself a Bible believer, a fundamentalist, then what are you going to do about this?
00:26:09
Speaker
It was just kind of whack upside the head.
00:26:12
Speaker
Do you remember at that point what you had thought when you had read John six in the past or didn't I just, again, with, with the, with the eyes of, of, of, of the experience that I had as far as I raised it, as far as it's just a symbol, that's how you would read it.
00:26:27
Speaker
And I have people still today, you know, in our men's group right now, when we discuss, you know, Eucharist and communion and John six, I said, you got to realize those that were raised without that,
00:26:36
Speaker
that understanding that it is the true body and blood of Jesus, that's what they're going by.
00:26:41
Speaker
You know, they can just rely on what they know, what they've been taught.
00:26:44
Speaker
And I don't say that as putting anybody down, but that's just how they were raised.
00:26:49
Speaker
That's how they see it.
00:26:50
Speaker
They see it as a symbol.
00:26:53
Speaker
So to have – Sorry.
00:26:56
Speaker
Yeah, just to dig into that a little more.
00:26:59
Speaker
So you probably read it, like Jesus also says, I am the vine, you are the branches, and we don't think Jesus is a literal vine or whatever.
00:27:04
Speaker
Right, right.
00:27:05
Speaker
Or I am the gate, you know, and so you probably read it like that.
00:27:09
Speaker
But I'm curious – Yeah, he's speaking in a metaphor.
00:27:11
Speaker
Yeah, he's speaking in a metaphor.
00:27:12
Speaker
Right, right.
00:27:12
Speaker
So then when he says, I'm the bread of life, eat my flesh, drink my blood, you know, that's how – we could read that symbolically.
00:27:18
Speaker
Or it seems at first, but I guess so what and maybe you're about to share this, so I didn't mean to interrupt you, but but what what did he share?
00:27:26
Speaker
Like what particularly as you walk through John six, what convinced you that it wasn't just a symbol like what particularly about that?
00:27:33
Speaker
That Jesus isn't just meaning symbolically, it really connects to this idea of the real presence of the youth.
00:27:38
Speaker
I think what struck me is that Bernard took the time and spent, I mean, he just didn't say, well, read this, you know, Jesus says that, so just believe it.
00:27:47
Speaker
He actually read it to me.
00:27:48
Speaker
He actually took the time to teach me.
00:27:51
Speaker
And I told that to him.
00:27:53
Speaker
He's aware of this story.
00:27:55
Speaker
But at the time, he didn't really remember it shortly after that, because he had just heard on Catholic radio or some Catholic teacher saying, you know,
00:28:02
Speaker
John 6, that's the Bread of Life discourse.
00:28:04
Speaker
So he had just recently, I mean, obviously he knew that as a lifelong Catholic, but had heard that you can use this to help people understand.
00:28:12
Speaker
So he was just passing along something that he had been taught and it had a profound impact on me.
00:28:18
Speaker
You know, I think again, just him taking the time line by line.
00:28:21
Speaker
And I probably asked him questions.
00:28:23
Speaker
I don't remember, but I just remember
00:28:25
Speaker
just like, wow, what this is in scripture.
00:28:27
Speaker
And I've, what have I, you know, what I've been doing all these years that I've read this and just didn't, didn't really understand, you know, and again, seeing it as a symbol, like you said, Kevin, Father Kevin, that, you know, that, you know, Jesus talks about being a gate or being a vine or, you know, I was thinking, oh, he's just speaking, you know, symbolically, you know, he doesn't really mean that.
00:28:48
Speaker
So, but yeah.
00:28:50
Speaker
So shortly after praying that prayer,
00:28:53
Speaker
when I was at mass, you know, after receiving my blessing and going back and praying my little, little, you know, arrogant prayer that I would pray to myself, the Holy Spirit spoke to me.
00:29:07
Speaker
I didn't hear a voice, but it's like, okay, if you want to receive, you're the one who's going to have to change.
00:29:13
Speaker
You know, the 2000 year old Catholic church is not going to change for just little old Dan Rouse.
00:29:19
Speaker
That's not going to happen.
00:29:21
Speaker
And at the time,
00:29:23
Speaker
They were singing, you know, a lot of times at communion, you hear, I'm the bread of life.
00:29:27
Speaker
And I remember those words, again, echoing John six, it's like, Oh, okay, then I think I'm starting to understand that this, there's really something to this.
00:29:39
Speaker
I went back shortly after that to my men's group, men of action, I shared with the guys, it's like, you know, I think
00:29:46
Speaker
I think God's calling me to become Catholic.
00:29:49
Speaker
And the men there, they were not pushy at all.
00:29:51
Speaker
They were not, you know, even on CW, it wasn't like, oh, okay, we got this Protestant, we're going to make him Catholic.
00:29:56
Speaker
You know, they were just living out their faith, being a living witness to me the best that they could.
00:30:01
Speaker
So it was through their witness, through this, you know, Bernard sharing John 6, through, you know, being open to God, I shared with him, I said, I think I'm being called to become Catholic, but
00:30:12
Speaker
I don't know if I want to share this with Janie because I don't want to get her hopes up and then decide, I don't think so.
00:30:19
Speaker
So I did actually share with her eventually, but it took a while.
00:30:24
Speaker
So in the fall of 1995, I began RCIA for real this time.
00:30:30
Speaker
And a gentleman named Joe Lutkins was my sponsor.
00:30:32
Speaker
He was part of the Men of Action group.
00:30:36
Speaker
But I told him, I said, when I begin, I said, by the end of this on Easter Vigil, I want to make sure that I have, there were two main things that I wanted to make sure that, first of all, that I had a pretty good understanding of the Eucharist, you know, as well as possible.
00:30:54
Speaker
I knew I couldn't fully understand it, but I wanted to be comfortable with, you know, the Eucharist and being receiving or receiving it.
00:31:00
Speaker
And also comfortable with Mary, you know,
00:31:02
Speaker
and what the church teaches about Mary.
00:31:04
Speaker
Those are two things as a Protestant, you know, those are two big areas that, you know, are kind of foreign to them.
00:31:10
Speaker
So I said, I at least want to be comfortable with it.
00:31:12
Speaker
I knew I couldn't understand everything, but that's what I wanted to do.
00:31:15
Speaker
So I went through RCIA.
00:31:18
Speaker
It was a wonderful experience journeying with other adults who were, you know, in the same boat with me that were, you know, from other faiths.
00:31:26
Speaker
Some had no faith at all.
00:31:28
Speaker
Some of them didn't even know who
00:31:29
Speaker
David and Goliath and Noah and Adam and Eve were, which was amazing to me, but still they were there.
00:31:35
Speaker
So on April 6, 1996, I was received into the Catholic Church at St.
00:31:40
Speaker
Jude's in Cedar Rapids.
00:31:41
Speaker
I received my first Holy Communion.
00:31:44
Speaker
So I've been Catholic for the last 28 years.
00:31:47
Speaker
And it's been such a blessing.
00:31:49
Speaker
I thank God every morning in my daily prayers for, first of all, calling us,
00:31:55
Speaker
me to him years ago in my conversion experience, calling me to the Catholic Church
00:32:01
Speaker
and also calling me to the permanent diaconate.
00:32:05
Speaker
And I'm still growing in my faith.
00:32:06
Speaker
You know, I don't know it all.
00:32:08
Speaker
I tell people this when I lead a group, whether it be Baptism Prep or RCIA, whatever.
00:32:12
Speaker
I still grow in my faith.
00:32:14
Speaker
I'm still growing in my love and appreciation of our Lord Jesus in the true presence of the Eucharist.
00:32:19
Speaker
I don't think you could ever fully grasp what that is.
00:32:22
Speaker
But, you know, our family joined St.
00:32:26
Speaker
Patrick's in 2011, moved from St.
00:32:30
Speaker
Jude's to St.
00:32:31
Speaker
Patrick's.
00:32:31
Speaker
And
00:32:32
Speaker
Shortly after that, Father Ivan Neenhouse started Eucharistic Adoration there at St.
00:32:37
Speaker
Pat's, which just had a profound effect on all of us, our family and myself as well.
00:32:42
Speaker
Eucharistic Adoration is something I had heard of but hadn't really experienced.
00:32:45
Speaker
So to be able to do that was just amazing.
00:32:48
Speaker
Janie and I still, on Wednesday nights from 8 until 9, that's been our time slot for the last, what's it been, a long time, since 2011.
00:32:57
Speaker
Yeah.
00:32:59
Speaker
I also, shortly after that, felt called to be an extraordinary minister of Holy Communion at Mass.
00:33:06
Speaker
and also extraordinary minister of Eucharist to the homebound as well.
00:33:12
Speaker
And at first I felt so unworthy because, you know, again, at that time I had a true understanding, or at least a better understanding of what the Eucharist is.
00:33:19
Speaker
And I was kind of hesitant about, I don't know if I'm worthy to, you know, to distribute, you know, Jesus to people at mass or the precious blood or take Jesus to people there.
00:33:31
Speaker
And Penny, who was a pastoral associate at the time,
00:33:38
Speaker
Sorry.
00:33:40
Speaker
Penny Ackerman, who was an extraordinary minister at the time, she was very good at that.
00:33:43
Speaker
She basically said, you know, we're not worthy, but, you know, keep praying.
00:33:47
Speaker
In fact, she even told me, she said, there's going to become a point in time when you're distributing communion and you're going to fully realize what you are doing.
00:33:55
Speaker
You're actually handing out the body of Jesus.
00:33:59
Speaker
And it sounds bad to say, but it doesn't happen every time.
00:34:02
Speaker
But when it does,
00:34:03
Speaker
I almost have to stop.
00:34:05
Speaker
I mean, when you really focus on what you are doing and you're giving Jesus to individuals, it's almost overwhelming.
00:34:13
Speaker
And you as priests, you probably experienced the same thing is that, yes, we should be experiencing this every time.
00:34:18
Speaker
And maybe you do.
00:34:19
Speaker
I hope you do.
00:34:20
Speaker
but not always for me.
00:34:22
Speaker
Um, you know, so that's on me, that's not on God at all.
00:34:24
Speaker
But when you really understand what you are doing, it's, it's just such a, uh, an honor.
00:34:31
Speaker
Um, you know, since that time, you know, I was ordained, as I mentioned earlier, July 20th, 2019, uh, and going through five years of formation was again, just a really great experience of, of learning about our faith and growing more in love of the Eucharist.
00:34:47
Speaker
Um, you know, and I, and I look back, um,
00:34:50
Speaker
God really does have a sense of humor because, you know, my first mass I ever attended was at St.
00:34:58
Speaker
Joseph's in Mason City.
00:34:59
Speaker
And Father Jacob, what was your first assignment after being ordained?
00:35:03
Speaker
St.
00:35:04
Speaker
Joseph's in Mason City.
00:35:07
Speaker
Actually, it was clustered with Epiphany Parish, but St.
00:35:11
Speaker
Joseph was part of that.
00:35:13
Speaker
And when you found out that you were being assigned there, I thought, huh, that's very funny, God.
00:35:18
Speaker
Good job.
00:35:20
Speaker
Completing the providential circle.
00:35:21
Speaker
That's right.
00:35:23
Speaker
Wow.
00:35:24
Speaker
Here we are.
00:35:25
Speaker
Well,
00:35:27
Speaker
I'm very thankful you got married to that Catholic gal.
00:35:31
Speaker
I'm glad she stuck with me.
00:35:33
Speaker
I don't know why.
00:35:33
Speaker
Like I tell people, I wouldn't have married myself at that time.
00:35:38
Speaker
Wow.
00:35:41
Speaker
Thank you for that.
00:35:43
Speaker
I've grown up my whole life knowing that my side of the story is –
00:35:47
Speaker
I played with Legos and fought with my brother and daddy just was gone almost every other night to some like men's group function.
00:35:54
Speaker
I thought everybody's dad was like involved in men's fellowship and like promoting the faith in the diocese.
00:36:01
Speaker
So really, that was just normal for me.
00:36:03
Speaker
But I am extremely thankful for everything you've taught me and everything you've done.
00:36:10
Speaker
But what I want to point out, first of all, my dear listeners, our dear listeners, is did you notice how many names that Deacon Dan mentioned?
00:36:19
Speaker
Actually, those Sunday school teachers, other than my grandma, Jean Rouse, I don't think I've ever heard their names before.
00:36:25
Speaker
But did you notice, if you play it back, how many names that he mentioned?
00:36:29
Speaker
This is just...
00:36:31
Speaker
one of the many ways that the Lord can use and like Bernard Schnaufer doesn't really maybe remember explicitly doing that.
00:36:37
Speaker
It's just him.
00:36:38
Speaker
It's kind of like when he, Jesus feels the power going out of him when he heals the hemorrhaging woman.
00:36:44
Speaker
It's just, if all this stuff is flowing out of us, but you yourself, you have no idea how the Lord can use you and what influence you have on other people for good or for bad.
00:36:56
Speaker
But I really think we, we emphasize the bad, but the,
00:37:01
Speaker
how many people played a part in my dad's story up till this point is, is incredible.
00:37:08
Speaker
So never discount how much you're worth and the value that you have for another person.
00:37:13
Speaker
Yeah.
00:37:14
Speaker
Amen.
00:37:16
Speaker
Absolutely.
00:37:17
Speaker
Yeah.
00:37:17
Speaker
And that, and that speaks to, you know, like you said, to all of us that, you know,
00:37:21
Speaker
You know, my prayer sometimes in the morning is, God, show me who it is you want me to be your light to, who you want me to witness to today.
00:37:29
Speaker
And that doesn't mean that I'm going to, you know, take my Bible out and hit them over the head or be hollering at them.
00:37:33
Speaker
It's just by living your life.
00:37:35
Speaker
And all of us are called to do that.
00:37:36
Speaker
There's so many times, you're right, that we have an impact on somebody that maybe it changes their life.
00:37:43
Speaker
And they don't even know it at the time.
00:37:44
Speaker
We have no idea how the Holy Spirit works, how God works through that.
00:37:47
Speaker
So just being open to being a witness.
00:37:51
Speaker
And then it can also work the other way.
00:37:52
Speaker
There's been times where I've gotten upset and lost my cool at work and just went back to that person and said, hey, I really apologize.
00:38:00
Speaker
I should not have said that.
00:38:01
Speaker
And most times people are like, yeah, that was no big deal.
00:38:04
Speaker
Everybody does it.
00:38:05
Speaker
I'm like, well, that may be true, but I feel horrible about it.
00:38:08
Speaker
So even in our mistakes, even when our shortcomings, we can still be a witness to other people.
00:38:15
Speaker
Yeah.
00:38:16
Speaker
So I'm really curious.
00:38:17
Speaker
Thank you so much for sharing.
00:38:19
Speaker
This is a cool story.
00:38:20
Speaker
And I just thank God it's, it's all God.
00:38:22
Speaker
It was, if it wasn't me, I'd still be, you know, not Catholic and doing who knows what, or not even Christian.
00:38:29
Speaker
So I have two particular follow-up questions of your experience.
00:38:34
Speaker
First of all,
00:38:36
Speaker
Do you have any memory of like, so after you became Catholic and when you first received communion as a Catholic, now understanding that this wasn't just a symbolic thing or merely a memorial, though as Catholics we do call it a memorial meal, but we mean something much more strongly than...
00:38:53
Speaker
how we colloquially or commonly think of the word memorial that truly makes something present that which is remembered.
00:39:00
Speaker
But anyways, as you, the first time you received or early on after you started receiving it, do you remember your experience of that or what was that like for you?
00:39:10
Speaker
You know, I was, this sounds bad, but I was more concerned about, okay,
00:39:14
Speaker
the technical aspects of, okay, how am I going to receive?
00:39:18
Speaker
How am I going to, you know, all that kind of thing.
00:39:20
Speaker
Don't drop the thing.
00:39:21
Speaker
Right.
00:39:21
Speaker
Yeah.
00:39:21
Speaker
Yeah.
00:39:21
Speaker
Don't drop Jesus.
00:39:22
Speaker
Yeah.
00:39:23
Speaker
But, uh, I didn't, you know, over time after you get over that initial, okay, here's, I'm going to do this and I'm going to go over here.
00:39:29
Speaker
Um, you know, it is just, uh, just the peace that you feel, you know, of, of receiving our Lord and spending time in prayer.
00:39:36
Speaker
you know, after receiving, you know, in the pew and just that quiet, quietness of just truly understanding what you have received.
00:39:47
Speaker
You know, Eucharistic adoration has been probably almost profound for me as, as even receiving, just spending that quiet time.
00:39:57
Speaker
And I would encourage, you know, everybody listening to, you know, if your parish or your community doesn't have, you
00:40:03
Speaker
actually adoration with the blessed sacrament exposed into monstrance to just go to your church and spend time in front of the tabernacle.
00:40:12
Speaker
You know, that too is just a blessing to spend time with our Lord in that quiet time.
00:40:18
Speaker
Yeah, that there's a physical, tangible presence of him.
00:40:21
Speaker
Yeah.
00:40:22
Speaker
Absolutely.
00:40:23
Speaker
Yeah.
00:40:24
Speaker
My second follow-up question is, so you had a son who became a priest.
00:40:30
Speaker
So that's neat.
00:40:31
Speaker
In fact, he's a co-host of a Debekeristic Revival podcast.
00:40:34
Speaker
Speaking of full circle, so providential circles.
00:40:37
Speaker
But I was curious also in just your growth in this beauty of the experience of the Eucharist.
Witnessing Son's First Mass
00:40:42
Speaker
What was it like?
00:40:43
Speaker
to offer your son as a priest, and especially, particularly, I'm thinking of his first Mass as a priest.
00:40:48
Speaker
What was your experience of that as he, you know, the Lord, became present?
00:40:54
Speaker
The Eucharist was consecrated, sacramentally present to us, and I'm curious of your experience of that.
00:41:00
Speaker
That was just very powerful.
00:41:02
Speaker
I'm so blessed that not only just to have Father Jacob as a priest, but also blessed to be able to assist him at Mass when we go up to visit.
00:41:09
Speaker
Right now, he's at Notre Dame Parish.
00:41:11
Speaker
And right now, they don't have a deacon, but hopefully they will soon.
00:41:15
Speaker
But...
00:41:17
Speaker
So when I get to assist, I'm blessed to assist him at Mass, just looking at his hands.
00:41:23
Speaker
And I do this with any priest when I'm assisting and I'm standing behind or kneeling behind the altar.
00:41:29
Speaker
Just looking at the priest's hands, that's where my focus is through most of the Mass.
00:41:33
Speaker
Knowing that Jesus is going to use these hands, the hands of this priest, to work through him to basically change these elements of Christ.
00:41:44
Speaker
of, you know, bread and wine into the body and blood of Jesus.
00:41:48
Speaker
Just the amazing miracle that that is.
00:41:51
Speaker
So that's really what I focus on the most, you know, but, you know, Father Jacob's first mass, like any priest's first mass is just amazing.
00:42:01
Speaker
Very, very special, just very, just amazing that God would, would take, you know, anybody and, and use them in that way.
00:42:10
Speaker
But also too, as you know, as a priest being open to being used in that, in that matter too, just, just the, the, the full journey.
00:42:17
Speaker
And, and it's really, it was a blessing to kind of journey together, so to speak, because some of the people that, that he had, and you, even Father Kevin had in formation with,
00:42:26
Speaker
at Loris were some of our same instructors.
00:42:28
Speaker
So it was kind of neat to have some of that and kind of share, OK, well, we had so and so.
00:42:33
Speaker
How did you do?
00:42:33
Speaker
And instead of having a full semester, we had like maybe one or two weekends.
00:42:36
Speaker
So but yeah, so that's always always good to to share in that.
00:42:43
Speaker
One of the things
00:42:45
Speaker
You mentioned an example without knowing it of the scriptural theology concept of eisegesis versus exegesis.
00:42:55
Speaker
Eisegesis is the act of reading in what you, your personal interpretation into the scripture and exegesis is reading it for what it exactly is.
00:43:06
Speaker
So if you started reading a book or watching a movie thinking, I'm going to hate this thing and looking for everything wrong with it.
00:43:12
Speaker
And of course, that's eisegesis.
00:43:13
Speaker
But what we're called to do is exegesis, which is what is God through the Holy Spirit saying to me through this text?
00:43:20
Speaker
And it sounds like you said you'd read the Bible three or four times cover to cover.
00:43:25
Speaker
And it was the gospel according to young Dan at that time.
00:43:29
Speaker
Absolutely.
00:43:30
Speaker
Yeah.
00:43:31
Speaker
I think it's a good lesson for us, not only with scripture, but also with people.
00:43:35
Speaker
I'm so thankful that so many people in your life, in your story, did not see you as a project or a
00:43:42
Speaker
customer, you know, to get, they're just your friend, you know, and that's, I think that's how we can look at people if they're not in our club or in our tribe or whatever it may be.
00:43:53
Speaker
We look at them as, as true unique individuals rather than a project that, that they need to get to a certain point.
00:44:00
Speaker
So I'm very thankful that they were patient with you as well.
00:44:03
Speaker
I think that's good.
00:44:04
Speaker
And also too, just being, you know, that experience that I had at St.
00:44:07
Speaker
Joe's as traumatic as it was,
00:44:09
Speaker
it was very profound because I know what it's like when, when people, you know, that are not Catholic that come to mass for the first time it is, it's overwhelming.
00:44:17
Speaker
It's like, I have no idea what's going on.
00:44:19
Speaker
So I always encourage people.
00:44:21
Speaker
Well, like with, um, father Jacob with grandpa and grandma, you know, my parents, they were not Catholic.
00:44:26
Speaker
So whenever they would come to either my, um, installation service or, or one of your installations or, or whatever it may be, I made sure that, um, if I was able, I would sit by them or have, um,
00:44:39
Speaker
my other son, Joshua, sit next to them with a missile to kind of walk them through.
00:44:42
Speaker
Okay, here's where we're at now.
00:44:44
Speaker
Here's what we're doing.
00:44:45
Speaker
You know, as Catholics, we just, we just do it and we don't really think about it.
00:44:48
Speaker
But, you know, if you're going to invite somebody to mass, which I really strongly encourage you to do, make sure that you kind of talk to them, first of all, about what's going to happen and, and open up the missile and walk them through it.
00:44:59
Speaker
So they know exactly what's happening.
00:45:02
Speaker
Just a note too, with, with adoration, I,
00:45:05
Speaker
Janie, my wife, she's done a great job with people that she's either worked with or known that either are not Catholic or maybe not practicing Catholics.
00:45:14
Speaker
Instead of bringing them to Mass, she's invited them to Adoration.
00:45:18
Speaker
You know, not for a full hour, but just, hey, let's just stop into the chapel and we'll spend 10 minutes with Jesus.
00:45:23
Speaker
And just that silence.
00:45:26
Speaker
And, you know, it really is powerful to let Jesus do the work instead of us thinking, well, we need to convert him.
00:45:32
Speaker
You know, we will.
00:45:33
Speaker
But if you were and I've done this a few times, too, is just saying we're just going to come and just spend some quiet time.
00:45:40
Speaker
You know, you don't really have to tell them about the whole, you know, you know, Jesus president of the Eucharist, don't let but just say we're going to spend some time in quiet because people today, even though they may not admit it, they the quiet is what most people don't have.
00:45:54
Speaker
It's lacking in their lives.
00:45:55
Speaker
But just to spend five, ten minutes in quiet, you know, is beautiful in itself, but quiet in front of our Lord Jesus, president of the Eucharist.
00:46:04
Speaker
What what better place could you have to be able to open up somebody's heart to that?
00:46:10
Speaker
Amen.
00:46:13
Speaker
I, I, uh, that reminds me of kind of a funny story.
00:46:15
Speaker
I once invited a non-Catholic to adoration and afterwards I said, so what'd you think?
00:46:20
Speaker
He said, it was really good, beautiful, quiet, but didn't really understand what the priest was doing with that scepter thing up there, you know?
00:46:27
Speaker
Right.
00:46:28
Speaker
And that's why it's good to explain, explain to them beforehand.
00:46:31
Speaker
Yes.
00:46:32
Speaker
And I say that to share, I did a poor example of explaining myself.
00:46:36
Speaker
And I don't always do that.
00:46:37
Speaker
I try to, you know, um, but,
00:46:40
Speaker
I have had different non-Catholic friends of mine in town and in my life come to mass or encounter the church in various
Eucharist's Significance and Revival
00:46:49
Speaker
ways.
00:46:49
Speaker
And I think it's important for us to acknowledge the gray area that is because one person who is a non-denominational friend,
00:46:58
Speaker
they said, so I was looking up everything about what is a Eucharist.
00:47:03
Speaker
I was looking up what is a Eucharist online.
00:47:05
Speaker
And well, they believe it's the body and blood of Jesus and we all commune together.
00:47:11
Speaker
And they said, I believe that.
00:47:14
Speaker
And I've been encountered that sentiment a lot.
00:47:18
Speaker
Well, yeah, duh.
00:47:20
Speaker
But I think it's important to understand that receiving the Eucharist is also important
00:47:25
Speaker
It's kind of like I use the word loyalty when I'm explaining it at masses.
00:47:29
Speaker
Like I am pledging my life not only to this moment of receiving communion within this church, in this building, in this moment, but my entire life is going to be everything from the Pope to the communion of saints to, you know, Catholic sexual ethics to...
00:47:45
Speaker
It's about the life change and the life loyalty.
00:47:51
Speaker
Because, yeah, there is a lot of our Protestant brothers and sisters in their church.
00:47:55
Speaker
They do actually believe it is the body and blood of Jesus.
00:47:58
Speaker
And I don't want to discount that, but it has to be with joining the church and being initiated into the full church.
00:48:07
Speaker
the full family, you know?
00:48:08
Speaker
Yeah, that is a great point, Father Jacob.
00:48:11
Speaker
I'm glad you mentioned that because I actually literally had that experience last week of someone, I was at a session, public ask me anything thing and explained the Eucharist and what we believe about it.
00:48:25
Speaker
And there was someone who said that exact thing, a Protestant who said,
00:48:29
Speaker
Well, I believe that.
00:48:30
Speaker
Everything you just said, I believe.
00:48:31
Speaker
The real presence, everything.
00:48:34
Speaker
Why can't I receive in your church?
00:48:37
Speaker
I joked at the beginning that we weren't going to talk about ecclesiology, but I think what you're saying also is there is something to be said about there is a deep connection also to what we understand, what we're receiving of the Eucharist, and that connection with Christ's body on earth that is the church also.
00:48:57
Speaker
Sometimes when I explain the Eucharist to people, I use this image, the body of Christ.
00:49:01
Speaker
I write the body of Christ and then have three images around it.
00:49:04
Speaker
One of the little host and chalice, one of Jesus on the cross, and then one of the building that is the church, you know, which, of course, we know the church is the people, not just the building.
00:49:13
Speaker
But then I draw arrows pointing both directions, interconnecting those and how those are deeply connected, intertwined.
00:49:18
Speaker
The body of Christ we receive in communion.
00:49:21
Speaker
the body of Christ that is Jesus on the cross, right?
00:49:24
Speaker
Or Jesus who, you know, his body as he walked on earth that died and rose again, resurrected.
00:49:28
Speaker
So communion with the living God and his body in that way.
00:49:31
Speaker
Uh, but also the Bible uses the third way the Bible uses is to refer to their church, you know, his body as the mystical communion.
00:49:38
Speaker
That is the church.
00:49:40
Speaker
Um,
00:49:40
Speaker
And so there's something to be said about communion, and yeah, that's a connection to the institution of the church that he established and things like that.
00:49:52
Speaker
And that does get into gray areas, because then what does that communion look like?
00:49:56
Speaker
And that's where we could do a whole other full hour episode, but we won't delve into all that ecclesiology.
00:50:02
Speaker
But yeah.
00:50:04
Speaker
Yeah, we have some great visual for our audio format here.
00:50:08
Speaker
If you want to see that whiteboard drawing, you can go to kevinearlywine.com.
00:50:12
Speaker
I'm just kidding.
00:50:14
Speaker
That doesn't exist yet.
00:50:15
Speaker
Yes, there is no website, kevinearlywine.com.
00:50:17
Speaker
I still think back to how...
00:50:20
Speaker
Father Kevin, you and I pastorally minister to people.
00:50:23
Speaker
And then young Dan, what if we had him in our church?
00:50:26
Speaker
I mean, that's pretty mean to say, no, you can't receive.
00:50:30
Speaker
You can only have a blessing.
00:50:31
Speaker
Like, what?
00:50:35
Speaker
I don't know.
00:50:35
Speaker
I think I'm saying that in quotes, obviously.
00:50:38
Speaker
It's not mean.
00:50:39
Speaker
It means something to us.
00:50:40
Speaker
But that's what the...
00:50:41
Speaker
People perceive that sometimes.
00:50:42
Speaker
I'm sure.
00:50:43
Speaker
I'm sure young Dan thought that.
00:50:45
Speaker
So what would Deacon Dan say to that?
00:50:48
Speaker
If Deacon Dan met young Dan, who is upset he couldn't receive, and said, that's kind of mean.
00:50:53
Speaker
What's the matter with you?
00:50:54
Speaker
What would Deacon Dan say if he encountered someone?
00:50:56
Speaker
No, but you have a good point.
00:50:57
Speaker
So even just looking at my experience, I knew what the Catholics believe.
00:51:03
Speaker
I personally did not believe it.
00:51:04
Speaker
So I wasn't like, well, I, you know, in my mind, I thought, well, I should receive.
00:51:08
Speaker
I wasn't, you know, about to, you know, just go marching right up there.
00:51:12
Speaker
Because when we would travel and go to different parishes, I would always seek out the priest there and just say, hey,
00:51:18
Speaker
I'm not Catholic, but I'm going to come forward for a blessing.
00:51:20
Speaker
It was so new in the, in that time that not many people were doing it.
00:51:24
Speaker
And I would ask, are you okay with that?
00:51:27
Speaker
And a few priests would say, no, I'd rather you didn't, which is fine.
00:51:30
Speaker
I was okay with that.
00:51:31
Speaker
So it wasn't like I was going to, you know, get my way no matter what, but privately, that's what I held in my heart.
00:51:37
Speaker
But yeah, what would we pray for?
00:51:40
Speaker
Yes.
00:51:40
Speaker
Yeah.
00:51:40
Speaker
What would, what would, you know, what would I say to my younger self back then?
00:51:44
Speaker
You know,
00:51:46
Speaker
I suppose I would do what Bernard Schnaufer did and open up John six, you know, use John six and and just kind of walk myself through the through the bread of life discourse and just say, you know, you say you're a fundamentalist, you believe what's in scripture.
00:52:01
Speaker
So what would you know, this is scripture.
00:52:04
Speaker
So what's the problem?
00:52:06
Speaker
What's wrong with you?
00:52:07
Speaker
Yeah, we actually had an earlier episode.
00:52:11
Speaker
We talked to, so an early episode on this podcast, we talked to Keith Nestor.
00:52:16
Speaker
I remember that was one thing we talked about was just how deeply biblical our understanding of the Eucharist really is, you know, and how that there's a lot there, you know, John 6 for starters, but so much in the Old Testament and how it ties so many things together.
00:52:31
Speaker
So I think that's a great point about that.
00:52:33
Speaker
Yeah.
00:52:35
Speaker
Um, so I guess one other thing, Deacon Dan, is there anything, we're in this season of Eucharistic Revival, is there, um, anything you'd like to kind of, any final or closing words or thoughts or insights you'd like to leave our listeners with as we're in this time of Eucharistic Revival?
00:52:50
Speaker
Uh,
00:52:52
Speaker
Yeah, one thing I would, and I touched on this earlier, is that whether we're an extraordinary minister, a deacon or a priest, or a lay person receiving, we need to fully appreciate what we are receiving, what we are distributing.
00:53:06
Speaker
We do this at every Mass.
00:53:09
Speaker
Quite honestly, it becomes just part of what we do, sadly.
00:53:13
Speaker
But especially for people that are receiving, to realize that I'm receiving the Lord Jesus in his body and through the bread, species of bread, and through the wine, his precious blood.
00:53:26
Speaker
To really take that to heart is what we are doing and even prepare yourself before receiving.
00:53:32
Speaker
I have a prayer today.
00:53:34
Speaker
I can't remember who it's from, but it's basically a Thanksgiving prayer after communion.
00:53:38
Speaker
I pray that usually at the end of mass, but sometimes during mass, sometimes in the missiles, they have it.
00:53:43
Speaker
I think it might be St.
00:53:45
Speaker
Augustine possibly, but it's a Thanksgiving after communion.
00:53:50
Speaker
And so, so to be able to, to do that I think is important to realize what we just received and what we are receiving when, when we do that.
00:54:01
Speaker
So.
00:54:02
Speaker
Yeah.
00:54:03
Speaker
Amen.
00:54:07
Speaker
Yeah.
00:54:08
Speaker
Well, thank you.
00:54:08
Speaker
Yeah.
00:54:09
Speaker
Rediscover the Wonder.
00:54:11
Speaker
Yes.
00:54:12
Speaker
I guess could be, it's not officially, but could be a title of, I think, of what we're trying to do generally in Eucharistic Revival and probably partly what we're trying to do with this podcast.
00:54:21
Speaker
Rediscover the Wonder of this Mystery that is the Eucharist, that is Christ Christ.
00:54:26
Speaker
present to us in this profound way and how we commune with him and are mystically drawn up into a sacrifice and receive his body and blood intimately into our own body and blood and his fullness of his presence that unites us to his sacrifice, makes us a covenantal people and makes us into his body of Christ back to the ecclesiology.
00:54:44
Speaker
We receive his body and blood so we are his body and his blood individually and communally his body and blood on earth.
00:54:51
Speaker
Anyways, rediscover the wonder.
00:54:54
Speaker
Amen.
00:54:55
Speaker
Absolutely.
00:54:55
Speaker
I'm going to put that on a banner and send it to your parish, Father Kevin.
00:55:00
Speaker
Great.
00:55:02
Speaker
So this episode is going to air sometime in March, I think.
00:55:08
Speaker
And so if our listeners are, you know, sticking with us, here we are.
00:55:14
Speaker
And if you've given up social media or electronics for Lent, then we'll see you on the other side.
00:55:18
Speaker
There you go.
00:55:20
Speaker
Listen to this in the Easter season.
00:55:23
Speaker
Thank you, everyone, for joining us.
00:55:24
Speaker
And thank you, Dad, for not only being on this podcast, but for being my dad.
00:55:30
Speaker
You are welcome.
00:55:30
Speaker
It's a blessing.
00:55:31
Speaker
It's been a blessing to be your father and a blessing to share my story, share how God has worked in my life with so many other people.
00:55:40
Speaker
All right.
00:55:40
Speaker
Well, everyone, that's a wrap for today.
00:55:42
Speaker
I'll see you in the Eucharist.