Looking to make spiritual growth your New Year’s resolution? Sign up now for Emmaus 90, “a 90-day journey for Catholics seeking a closer relationship with Jesus in the Eucharist.”
A combined virtual and small-group program hosted through the Archdiocese of Milwaukee, Emmaus 90 is an offshoot of the National Eucharistic Revival that focuses on individual prayer, journaling and examination of conscience, group interaction and formation and implementation. The program is being offered to Catholics in the Diocese of Superior in 2025 in English, Spanish and, for the first time ever, American Sign Language.
Approachability and discipleship characterize Emmaus 90, said Chris Hurtubise, director of the Diocese of Superior’s Office of Evangelization and Missionary Discipleship.
“It’s super easy to participate in,” he explained. Men and women register for the program, which runs from New Year’s to Easter, and includes a weekly virtual formation session with some very good Catholic speakers, “the best of the best,” Hurtubise said.
“I love the timing of this program happening at the dawn of the new year,” he commented. “People seem to either love or hate New Year’s resolutions. Personally, I love them. I love the annual opportunity to ask this question: A year from now, what will I have wanted to have done differently than I did this past year?”
“For us as Christians, I think we’d all love to answer by saying: I want to have learned to pray more regularly and more deeply; to have learned how to let the Lord set me from the sins I’ve been falling into over and over again; to have grown in authentic friendship with other Catholics in my community; to have let go of some of my clinging attachments and become a more generous servant to those around me,” he added. “We’d all love to answer that way, right? But we often don’t know how. Emmaus 90 is about as approachable and attainable of a resource as I’ve heard of to get us start on that journey.
“Bishop Powers’ pastoral letter on evangelization talks beautifully about the need for us to move from having God simply as part of our lives, to God being the center of our lives,” Hurtubise said. “I think this is exactly right. However, we all need guidance and mentorship in this process of conversion. I think anyone itching to begin or to continue with that crucial move would deeply benefit from this opportunity. Individuals can certainly do this on their own, but it would be even more fruitful if people came together in small groups. Our diocese has a helpful model for small groups called Cenacles that would be a great structure in which to do Emmaus 90 together.”
Hurtubise said the National Eucharistic Revival has highlighted the need for the church to extend an invitation to a life of discipleship, and this program fulfills that need.
“When Jesus encounters people in the Gospels and their lives are turned upside down, he doesn’t just move on to the next person. He says, ‘follow me.’ It’s imperative that the church not only leads people to a life-changing encounter with the Lord, but then is ready to say: ‘Here is how we as disciples of Jesus live this out. This is how … we commit to a life of prayer. This is how … we seek the renewal of our minds. This is how … we regularly engage with the sacraments in a life-changing way. This is how … we live out the Lord’s radical call to sacrificial love of neighbor.’ Emmaus 90 seems like a great opportunity for folks of all levels of spiritual maturity to begin or recommit to that sort of life of intentional discipleship.”
Anyone interested in joining the program should register as soon as possible at www.archmil.org/evangelization/Eucharistic-Revival/Emmaus-90.htm. To learn more about the Diocese of Superior’s Cenacle groups, visit catholicdos.org/cenacle.
