The Work of An Entire Generation
“At least the work of a whole generation is necessary to achieve such a thing.”
– Joseph Ratzinger (Pope Benedict XVI), 1988
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Strategic Plan 2025-2028
An important aspect of the Church’s pastoral work which, if used wisely, can help in rediscovering the centrality of God’s word is catechesis, which in its various forms and levels must constantly accompany the journey of the People of God. Luke’s description (cf. Lk 24:13-35) of the disciples who meet Jesus on the road to Emmaus represents, in some sense, the model of a catechesis centred on “the explanation of the Scriptures”, an explanation which Christ alone can give (cf. Lk 24:27-28), as he shows that they are fulfilled in his person. The hope which triumphs over every failure was thus reborn, and made those disciples convinced and credible witnesses of the Risen Lord.
Pope Benedict XVI
Verbum Domini §74
Dear Friend,
Thank you for your part in what Emmaus has become and is becoming.
When Bishop Conley invited me to begin praying about founding an institute dedicated to studying, teaching, and helping God’s people to love and live the Sacred Scriptures, I am certain that neither he nor anyone else in the loop of prayer and planning at that time could have imagined where this institute would eventually go or what it might become.
I stand in awe, deeply humbled and filled with gratitude for all the blessings of our Lord. Doors of unexpected opportunity have opened and continue to open wide. We survived economic hard times (2019 was not an ideal year to launch a nonprofit!). Connections and collaborations are being formed with people, parishes, and institutions across the country and around the world who share our passion and vision. Eager students grace our classrooms with responsive hearts, perceptive questions, and an insatiable hunger for understanding and deeper conversion. Changed lives bear unmistakable testimony to the transforming power of God’s word. We are incredibly privileged to serve both clergy and laity, religious and seminarians, educators and administrators. Borrowing a line from the psalmist, “This is the LORD’s doing; it is marvelous in our eyes” (118:23).
Emmaus is not the work of an individual, but of a dedicated, faith-filled, prayerful, resourceful, and energized staff; a wise and faithful Board of Directors; interested and devoted students both near and far; generous and prayerful benefactors; and, above all, the living and true Lord, worthy of all our love, worship, and sacrificial service.
We are mindful that the work has just begun, and that steps need to be taken to continue on the path of fulfilling all that God has called Emmaus to be and do. Our strategic plan outlines some of what we envision those steps to include, many of which we are already pursuing.
When Moses prayed, “Let the favor of the Lord our God be upon us, and establish the work of our hands” (Pss 90:17), he was confident that “the work” was the Lord’s work. We are so convinced of the same that we too pray boldly, and we ask you to join us, that God will be pleased to “establish the work of our hands”—for the greater glory of his Name, for the service of the Church, and for the evangelization of the world.
Gratefully yours, in Christ,
Vern Steiner, Ph.D.
President
“The tragic result is that for many Catholics, the Church’s Bible has become a closed book.”
Our Strategic Priorities
Clergy and Religious
Teachers and Catechists
The Laity
Current and Future Scholars
“Catholic exegetes and other students of sacred theology . . . should devote their energies, under the watchful care of the sacred teaching office of the Church, to an exploration and exposition of the divine writings.”
Dei verbum §23
Why The Calling of Saint Matthew?
The Calling of Saint Matthew was chosen as the cover art for this strategic plan for two reasons. First is the priority of Christ. In the painting, Jesus is somewhat hidden, shrouded by the surrounding darkness which beckons the viewer to seek actively for Christ. This can often be our experience of reading Scripture, where Christ is not always immediately discerned, though he is present nonetheless. But both in Caravaggio’s work and in the words on the sacred page, the primary task of the observer is to behold the witness to Christ.
Second, Caravaggio “lifts” this scene from its setting in the first century and relocates it in the context of his own time. This can be seen by the pomp and dress of Matthew’s fellow tax collectors—clearly not first-century Palestinian, but 16th-century European garb. A fundamental part of the task given to “a whole generation” is likewise to bring the people of God in each generation to a rich and vibrant encounter with the Jesus of Scripture—not lost to history but present in the faithful reading of his Word.