About Us

Emmaus Ministry
Good Shepherd Catholic Church

14187 Sunset Drive (SW 72^nd Street)
Miami, Florida 33183
(305) 385-4320

What is the Emmaus ministry?

The Emmaus Ministry is a parish-based Catholic ministry whose primary goal is to evangelize the love of Jesus Christ to everyone through a weekend retreat. Inspired by a passage from scripture, the Gospel of Luke 24:13-35 (The Road to Emmaus), the retreat focuses on the importance of knowing God. The Emmaus retreat begins on Friday afternoon and ends on Sunday afternoon with the celebration of the Holy Eucharist at Good Shepherd together with family, friends and the parish community welcoming the candidates. The retreat allows the candidates to take a break from their daily activities, taking time for themselves, and reflecting on life and their relationship with Jesus Christ. One does not have to be Catholic to attend and be in fellowship with the team and the ministry. All men and women, eighteen years and older, are welcome to attend an Emmaus retreat.

Emmaus brothers and sisters are men and women who attended a weekend Emmaus retreat. As a follow-up to learning more about God, Emmaus does the following:

A monthly reunion is held for all Emmaus brothers and sisters to help them continue to develop their relationship with Jesus and one another. Each reunion is facilitated by an Emmaus brother and sister or a priest, deacon, or other individuals, focusing on a theme that enriches our faith.
Feeding the homeless with the help of the community;
Participation in other activities that promotes the importance of community, love of Jesus, service to others, and appreciation of families and youth.
Invite Emmaus brothers and sisters to serve on the team, in preparation for Emmaus retreats.

How did it start?

The Emmaus Ministry at Good Shepherd is an addition to the many Catholic Emmaus parish-based ministries in Miami, Florida, which began in 1978 (read below for the History of Women's Emmaus Retreat by Myrna Gallagher and History of Men's Emmaus Retreat by Larry Barfield).

In 2000, a couple from Good Shepherd, Frank and Maria Anduiza, each attended an Emmaus retreat at St. Augustine Catholic Church in Coral Gables, Florida. Thereafter they both returned and served with the team for two years, giving retreats for other men and women. Early in 2002, Frank and Maria approached their pastor, Rev. Michael J. Greer, at Good Shepherd to obtain permission to introduce Emmaus at Good Shepherd. Fr. Greer granted and blessed an Emmaus Ministry, offering retreats for men and women in English and Spanish. Frank and Maria put together a Men’s Emmaus Team and a Women’s Emmaus Team, consisting of Emmaus brothers and sisters from Good Shepherd and other Catholic parishes, such as St. Kevin, St. Timothy, St. Louis, St. John Neumann, and St. Augustine. Under the spiritual direction of Fr. Greer and guidance of Emmaus founder, Myrna Gallagher, each team for men and women held team formation for six months.

The first Emmaus retreats at Good Shepherd took place in late 2002. Grateful to our Lord, the guidance of the Holy Spirit, and the intercession of Mary, the Mother of God, Good Shepherd Emmaus Ministry continues to give retreats in English and Spanish to men and women, separately. It has been instrumental in evangelizing the love of Jesus, bringing about the conversion of many hearts, and fostering peace and happiness in the lives of those who accept the invitation to attend and Emmaus weekend.

History of Women's Emmaus Retreat by Myrna Gallagher

The first Emmaus Retreat was held in the Archdiocese of Miami at the Dominican Retreat House in 1978. It was developed and conducted by a team of laywomen from St. Louis Church in Kendall. Father David G. Russell, who was pastor at that time, saw the need for and envisioned a parish, based retreat that enabled laywomen to minister to lay women. He approached the secretariat of the Cursillo movement and asked if they would allow a parish based Cursillo to be held at St. Louis. This request was denied. Since there was no other retreat of this type available at that time, Father Russell asked the Directress of Religious Education, Myrna Gallagher, to form a team and develop one.

The first team consisted of five women from the parish, Kathy Eiland, Lois Flynn, Mary Laskey, Julie Oaks and Myrna Gallagher. Sister Peggy Manning from the Dominican Retreat House assisted the team and served at the first retreat also. Linda de Georgina from St. Joan of Arc Parish additionally assisted and gave a talk for Emmaus I. She was not part of the team, nor was she able to stay the entire weekend, but ministered nonetheless as a guest speaker.

After much prayer, the team decided the retreat would be based on the Emmaus scripture reading from the Gospel of Luke 24:13-35. Emmaus was originated as a ministry for the parish and not as a movement.

The team met weekly for six months. They prayed together, read and reflected on the Emmaus reading and began developing the talks and ceremonies for the weekend. The families of those who were married and had children were invited to a dinner with the team and pastor so they would understand what their wives and mothers were involved in.

Father Russell was invited to critique the proposed retreat and initially observed that the team had leapt right to the resurrection without acknowledging the passion. He also invited Brother Miguel Campos, a noted retreat master and spiritual director who was stationed in the Archdiocese Pastoral Center at that time to evaluate the retreat. His assessment was that the retreat was much too busy. There was, in his opinion, not enough time for prayer and reflection. Realizing the validity of these constructive observations, the team went back to the drawing board.

The revised retreat provided time for what the Luke scripture reading, and the word retreat suggests. It allowed time for the candidates to be still and reflect away from their family, home, social and work environments. It was the intention of the pastor, and the team, that the Emmaus experience would afford an opportunity for the candidates to meet Jesus on their personal journey to Emmaus, listen to Him as He explained the scriptures to them and pray and share the Eucharistic meal with Him. The pastor and team trusted that by being in the presence of Jesus during the weekend, the candidates upon their return home would be assured of His Father's love for them and be able to minister to others by proclaiming the wonderful truth that:

Jesus Christ Is Risen !

History of Men Emmaus Retreat by Larry Barfield

In early 1985 several men from St. Louis Catholic Church, along with Fr. Jim Fetcher, were discussing what kind of Ministry would be good for the Men. The present Men’s club was not very active and the Hard Hat Ministry was very active, but not very Spiritual in its goals.

The men needed a ministry that would reach in to the heart of the Parish and pull out those men who “came to church” but were “not involved”. We felt if we could somehow allow these men to look at their relationship with Jesus Christ and let the Holy Spirit work in their lives, they would and could appreciate the Catholic Faith all the more.

We had Catholic Cursillo available, but we could only send a very few men from our Parish at any one time and they needed to already be on their walk with the Lord. The women of our Parish had a great retreat started several years earlier call Emmaus. The men looked at this retreat and decided it contained all the elements we needed, with just a few changes.

Our goal was to change the goal, and rewrite the weekend to be more in tune with what men need. The basic outline was kept but some items were added and some altered.

The team was formed and the first Men’s Emmaus was held at the Dominican Retreat House. The first weekend there was no rose symbol, the first symbol was a model house we assembled to represent all the elements we now see in the Rose.

The first Emmaus team consisted of: Jim Loretta, Larry Barfield, Howard Werner, Bob Colasanti, Bill Fogarty, Marty Jacobs, Sal Difede, Sid Glaser, and Bill Denight. The team formed, met, prayed, and went to work attracting candidates. The results of the weekend were the same as they are and have been for every weekend since, staggering. The Holy Spirit was very strong during that first weekend, showing the team the way and letting the team know to move out of the way.