The Road to Emmaus

When Scott Hahn began looking into the Catholic Church, he was urged on by one question: “How did a Roman execution come to be known as a sacrifice?” The more he studied, the more he realized that to understand Good Friday, we have to understand Holy Thursday and the Last Supper. On this episode of The Road to Emmaus, Dr. Hahn shares the story of how he came to discover that Scripture points ultimately to the Eucharist.

We might not realize it, but every Sunday at Mass we’re practicing typology—the Church has given us the lectionary as a key to connecting the Old and New Testaments. Nowhere is this more evident than in the readings for the Feast of the Assumption and their emphasis on the Ark of the Covenant. What might at first be surprising becomes clear when we read the Book of Revelation in light of the Old Testament to discover Mary as the Ark of the New Covenant.

Priests are fathers and fathers are priests—a concept that is increasingly difficult to understand in a culture that devalues the role of fathers more and more with each passing day. On this episode of The Road to Emmaus, Scott Hahn and Rob Corzine, Vice President of Programs at the St. Paul Center, offer clarity on the often-overlooked connection between priesthood and  fatherhood.  

Over the past forty years, the Church has seen a profound renewal in scholarship and the faith. There has been an outpouring of the Holy Spirit, inspiring a springtime for Catholic life. And no matter how dark it may seem for the  Church,  the Holy Spirit is ever-present. On this episode of The Road to Emmaus, Scott Hahn and Ralph Martin discuss how the Holy Spirit desires to work in the Church today.   

St. Peter is the perfect example of what it means to give our lives to God. That doesn’t mean he was perfect—far from it. He questions, he doubts, he even denies Our Lord three times. But he always repents and accepts forgiveness. On this episode of The Road to Emmaus, Scott Hahn challenges us to say yes to Jesus.  

Scripture never shows St. Joseph speaking, yet he plays such an important role in the Church—he stands as one of the most interesting figures in our history. One unique feature of his presence in Scripture is that, in almost all of the passages he’s referenced in, he is accompanied by angels. On this episode of The Road to Emmaus, Mike Aquilina, one of Scott Hahn’s good friends and co-founder of the St. Paul Center, explores the four “annunciations” to St. Joseph.

What does it mean to say that the Church is holy, when we look around and see so much unholiness? Unlike human institutions, the Church is made worthy not by her leaders but by her Head: Jesus Christ. When we profess that the Church is holy, we don’t mean that all her members are perfect—the Church is holy because she is our means of entering into the family of God.