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