1 - Fr. Mike Eckley - May 7 2026 === ​ Olivier: welcome everybody to the very first episode of the St. Wenceslaus Podcast. I am your co-host, Olivier Coutant, Director of Liturgy and Communications here at St. Wenceslaus. Emily: and I'm Emily Barker, Director of Evangelization. Olivier: Today we are so excited for our first guest, Fr. Mike Eckley, our pastor. Fr. Mike, how are you today? Fr. Mike: I'm great. It's great to be with you. Olivier: We just wanna talk a little bit before we jump into your stories, about the purpose of this podcast. Why a podcast? Why now? some of the things that we've been, hearing and seeing through the parish is that there are so many people in this parish, so many people who have stories to share. One of the things that people say over and over again is that, when they find connection in this parish, what feels like a very big, and is a very big parish, becomes more of like a small town parish feel. And so our hope with this podcast is that as we tell stories of what God is up to, of what Jesus is doing in people's lives, that this big parish becomes just a little bit smaller, and that people can find deeper connection with one another, and ultimately with Jesus. So with that in mind, we're gonna hear stories from our pastor, Fr. Mike, just about his priesthood and about, the different places that he's been, different experiences that he's had, and ultimately, what God has been doing in those moments. So, Fr. Mike, you're, uh, the pastor of the biggest parish in Nebraska, but you've had a lot of different assignments. And so can you just, like, talk about where you've been as a priest? I'm sure people have heard this before, but kinda give us a picture of where you've been as priest and what you've done. Fr. Mike: Sure. I've had a lot of assignments throughout my 35 years as a priest and been very blessed. I say that I never expected to be in a big West Omaha parish, and actually many times that the last thing I wanna do is be in a big West Omaha parish. so I've stopped saying what want and what I don't want because it's really to God and, to the archbishop where, where my priesthood is gone. I started off as a newly ordained priest in West Point, nebraska. And there I was associate pastor and then also teaching high school, and I helped coach volleyball. And then I moved from there to one year at St. Bernadette's here in Omaha or Bellevue, and went back, to Fremont after that as an associate and back into high school, teaching and coaching. And after six as an associate, then I was named as pastor for time. And I went to Battle Creek, Nebraska, and we had a mission, St. Francis de sales of schoolcraft. And during that time, I taught at Norfolk Catholic, I coached volleyball at Battle Creek Public. Olivier: So you have a lot of, teaching and coaching experience. What was that like for you? Fr. Mike: I think that, having that classroom experience and having to be in front of students each and every day just really- me become creative.it helped me to think on my feet even more, to be able to respond to what the students were asking and what was going on in the classroom. Throughout period of time, I taught juniors and seniors, and so it was great to be able to enter into dialogue and where they were in life. They were starting to ask big questions about their life and their plans and, and to be able to be there with them along in journey was incredible. Olivier: Most people think of the priest, like, preaching on Sundays, and that's a form of teaching, I guess. But when you're in the classroom, there can be more of, like, a dialogue. how do you distinguish between, preaching a homily and being in the classroom, and does that ever overlap? Fr. Mike: I do think that being in the classroom and having opportunities helped my preaching in being creative, catching people's attention, what does catch people's attention, story. it is bit different because in the classroom you have a long format, in the homily you- the intention is not to be that long but, but to be able to get your point across, be able to be creative, it, really helped in that way. But in the classroom, it, it would be more catechetical, where in preaching you really want to inspire, and to try get maybe one point across in a reasonable amount of time. Emily: Did you have any teaching experience before you were associate pastor at any of those places, or was that just part of the assignment and you figured it out? Fr. Mike: It was just part of the assignment and I just had to figure it out. My BA is in history with a minor in philosophy, and so if I didn't continue in the seminary, one of the options would be to go into teaching. And so I started taking some education classes. I started kind of late, so I didn't get very many in, but I had a little bit of experience, and I'd had experience teaching religious education when I was in the seminary, teaching eighth grade confirmation class at St. Matthew's in West St. Paul, Minnesota, and then in my teaching parish when I was in graduate school Guardian Angels in Lake Elmo. Olivier: So speaking of seminary, your kind of discernment and pathway to the priesthood, you said that there was this backup plan if things didn't work, history major, that sort of thing. But what was that path of discernment like for you? And maybe, like, was there a moment or a series of moments where, you, you encountered God, you felt His voice, or just, something that was like, "Oh, yeah," like, "This is the call"? What was that like for you? Fr. Mike: Well, I-- When I talk about my vocation story, I have to go back to when I was in grade school, and there was always a draw for me to the Eucharist, and I really believe that's where my vocation was rooted, in, in that, reality of the Eucharist which captured my imagination, and in that belief in the real presence and wanting to be close to it, and wanting, when I was in, middle school, to start serving Mass. we could start serving in sixth grade, and so took that opportunity to begin as a server. When I was in high school- My parish started perpetual adoration, and they just celebrated this past March, forty-five years of continual perpetual adoration at Our Lady of Lourdes here in Omaha. And I remember being at Mass, and the priest that was preaching that weekend encouraging perpetual adoration told a number of stories. Very clearly when I was walking home, we just lived a few blocks from Our Lady of Lourdes,, I was thinking, "I need to sign up for an hour." I was fifteen years old, and I signed up for the hour, from one AM to two AM on Saturday mornings. I worked at a restaurant. They closed at midnight. We were usually out of there by twelve thirty, and I thought, "Well, that'd be perfect." I'd get home from work and then go to the church and have that hour of adoration. Olivier: Right. What's another hour in the middle of the Emily: the night? Fr. Mike: I was already... It was hard me to get to sleep anyway after working eight hours and just coming home and just going to bed. That wasn't gonna work, and so, took that opportunity. And there's that draw there that I wanted to be close to the Eucharist and wanted to spend that time in prayer. And all through grade school, high school, the thought of priesthood was always there. and so as I was getting to be a junior or senior in high school thinking, you know, "What's that next step?" And in deciding to go into the seminary, and was encouraged by my pastor, Monsignor Furlong, by our guidance counselor, Brother Joe Barrett, at Gross Catholic High School here in Omaha. and with their encouragement and the support of my parents, started the application process for the seminary. I was there-- As I was there and in the college seminary, my draw to service and being of service to others was very strong. got involved with a number of different committees in the seminary and leadership in the seminary. there was one particular moment in my junior year in college where, it was a Monday evening during the fall. I was in my dorm room with other seminarians. We're watching Monday Night Football. And Fr. Greg Tolas, who lived on the floor, he came walking by. And we invited Greg into the room and started talking, with him as we're watching football, and one of the guys asked Fr. Tolas, "Do you see us as priests someday?" And he looked around the room and he said, "You know, it's possible that, you can be priest." He said, "You know, there's 6 to 7 more years of formation that you have. I could see that, you know, you go through that and become priest." And he said, "And maybe not." And then he looked at me and he said, "Except for you, Eckley, I don't think God's calling you to anything else but to be a priest." Olivier: What was that like to hear that? Fr. Mike: Well, in front of my peers it was like, "Why is he singling me out with everyone else in the room. Olivier: you wanted to, like, fade into the wallpaper or whatever, like Fr. Mike: Yeah. But then there was, also that affirmation of what was going on in my prayer already, of that strong draw to priesthood and that intention of going on. when I was a senior in college, my first meeting with my spiritual director that year, his first question was, "Are you going on to the seminary or the graduate school?" And immediately I answered, "Yes." It just seemed like the right answer. I knew that that's where I was going. Olivier: And the internal experience of prayer was confirmed by the external affirmation by your superiors and the formators and the people who could see, "Yeah, this is what he's suited for." That's really neat. Fr. Mike: it was very affirming, but at that moment it was like, "Why me?" "Why me?" Right. Olivier: Right. Just an ordinary moment, like Monday Night Football with the guys, Emily: Mm-hmm. and Olivier: you ask this, you know, it's a serious question, but it's, like, a little bit innocuous. Like, "What do you think?" Like, "Are we gonna be priests?" And then he answered seriously. And you got a serious answer. Emily: Did any of the guys give you a hard time after that? Fr. Mike: They didn't. I mean, but we're all in the seminary, we're all discerning that, and so that was very encouraging. Olivier: So talking about these moments with the Lord and moments of, affirmation or confirmation, I'm in the right place and I'm doing the right thing in priesthood, in life. Since you became a priest 35 years ago, what are some of those other moments where the Lord has shown himself really prominently to you? Fr. Mike: There are probably two moments. One from my early priesthood and one more recently. as a young priest, When I was an associate in Fremont, I was teaching and I was just very busy, as most priests are in the parish. And I was teaching high school, half the day. I was coaching. I was, Director of the, RCIA, involved with the liturgy committee. just many things going on. Lots of weddings, Olivier: everything but signing the checks probably. Right. Yeah. Or maybe even that too. Fr. Mike: Well, when the pastor was gone, that's what I had to do- also, to do that, because I was the senior associate. I was the associate with the most experience. So when he was gone, and he was, Fr. Frank Lordeman, he was in, Air Force Reserve, so there'd be periods of time that he'd be gone for a couple weeks for, for duty. And so I had those responsibilities during that period of time. But it wa- it was very busy, and it was also a period of time where a lot of the guys that I grew up with, that I, I was good friends with, were also getting married, starting to have kids. Uh, my siblings were doing the same thing, and I had the joy of being able to celebrate their weddings, baptizing their kids. But there was those questions sometimes that can come into mind, "Did I make the right decision?" is this really where I'm supposed to be?" and then part of that too is I was feeling, kind of worn out from what I was doing. I remember at one point on a Sunday, and it was a very busy day, that I just felt like I was on empty. I had gotten up early 'cause I was the priest on duty that day, so my responsibility was to make sure the doors were unlocked and people would come into the rectory looking for things, helping them out. I got called to the hospital, came back. I had the late Sunday morning Mass, and then I had baptisms afterwards, and I was setting up for baptisms for another priest coming in to do baptisms later. Got that all set up, and I kind of collapsed in the first pew in front of the tabernacle, because St. Patrick's, the old church there, had a Eucharistic chapel, and I just kind of collapsed and just- was feeling like, "I want to go. I-- Find a 9:00 to 5:00 job and not this pressure and stress and everything else," Olivier: The grass is greener. Fr. Mike: and just like I'm sure every mother and father at times have felt like that, or whatever occupation you're in, that I just want to do something else. and in that moment of just kind of letting it all out, I felt, for the first time the physical presence of Jesus, that I I at that moment felt held. not that I saw anything, not that I heard anything, but I felt a physical presence embrace me and just wrap his arms around me. And, and I sat there in tears for the longest time. I don't know how long But the only words that, that came to mind in prayer was, "Thank you for the privilege to serve." and just sat there with that prayer. And, and then went forth from there to the rest of the day. It was still a very busy day. And, and I knew it was real. later that evening, I got a phone call. I had the Sunday evening Mass, and I, I had come back and, and,one of our neighbors who is very involved with liturgy, she helped with the environments in the church, she called and she said, "What'd you preach about tonight?" and I told her, you know, kind of the outline of what I preached, and she said, "No, no, no. What'd you preach about?" I said, "Well, I just told you what I preached about. Why are you asking?" And she said, my son and my husband just came back from Mass and they said it was the best homily you've ever preached. Wow. I was at the 11:30, and it was okay. What'd you preach about tonight?" And in truth, it was the same outline. It was the same story that I had. I don't write out my homilies. I have an outline in my mind that I go by. But something had changed, and I know exactly what had changed. Olivier: Yeah. Fr. Mike: There's something that happened there. Olivier: That makes me think about the times in the gospels where it says Jesus drew away to a deserted place to pray. And in my head, I usually think, "Oh, he's going 'cause he's the Son of God, and that's what the Son of God does, and he just has this beautiful connection to his father. And of course, usually, it's hot on the heels of he was curing people everywhere, and everybody was, like, begging, that he would touch them and heal them and cure them and attend to them and minister to them. It's like he was probably tired. He was probably like, " Do I got what it takes?" " Like, I need to go and be held by my Father. And, you know, because you're a priest and you embody the person of Christ so, sacramentally, I mean, that's the word for it, that that's what came to mind was like you were doing what Jesus did- in the same way. Fr. Mike: And I think very much in his invitation and, that image of Jesus going off by himself to pray also reminds me that when the disciples came back from their mission and the crowds were there, and Jesus looked at the crowds, and then he looked at his disciples and said, "Come away with me to a quiet place." Olivier: Like, "that's all gonna be here when you come back." Right. "But you need to go rest." Fr. Mike: Mm-hmm. And with me. "Come rest with me." Olivier: Specifically with Jesus. Fr. Mike: Yeah. Olivier: Yeah. Emily: Well, and I'm also struck by, I think sometimes in our prayer we can feel, for lack of a better term, that we should be a certain way. You just had to show up and say, "Lord, I'm so tired. I'm not sure." Like, just so honest. and how beautiful and fruitful that was. Like, the Lord wants our honesty. and not that it's a, you know, reward or give and take, but just look at the fruit of that, that coming in our humanness, our neediness, and how much He delights in holding us in that place, not in the place where we're really doing amazing things or saying a great homily, right? It was the opposite. It was in your poverty where He wanted to meet you. Fr. Mike: Right. lift me up in that moment and, and to assure me that I wasn't in this alone, that He was truly there and continues to be there. And that continues to give me, strength each day. I recall that, and there's times that when I'm feeling tired, when I'm feeling overwhelmed, that either at the rectory or here in the church in sitting in front of the tabernacle, I will just, in my mind, go back to that moment in that front pew in front of the tabernacle at St. Patrick's in Fremont and just be present to that moment again, and how important that is that it's the reminder that in the midst of all that, He's walking right with me, and He's there with me. Olivier: That's something that I do love about St. Wenceslaus is I'm like power walking around campus, and I just see like you or Fr. Tobias or Fr. Tim in the church, in the chapel, just hanging out with Jesus. And you guys have busy schedules, like you got places to be, but the fact that you do set that time aside to go and just be with the Lord, that's really encouraging to me and I think to everybody. Fr. Mike: And it's so important to do. we can do great things, but if we don't do it, first based in prayer and with the Lord, it's not gonna come to anything. Olivier: I heard like a Mother Teresa quote, Much prayer, much power. Little prayer, little power. No prayer, no power." Yeah. It's like in a way that only she could say it. But it's so true. Well, great. do you have any other stories you wanna tell us? Well, Fr. Mike: One more recently that, just the privilege that I have as a priest, and been very blessed in many ways in the different ministries that I've had, but the different opportunities I've had. I've been to the Holy Land twice on pilgrimage, and, the second time that I went, I was very blessed to be able to have my mom join on that pilgrimage, and we had a very small group. part of that was it was right after COVID. Israel had just opened up. We were some of the few pilgrims, that were in Israel at the time. And we were at the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, on this particular day in the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, we celebrated Mass in the Tomb. And in being able to celebrate Mass there, the altar is,a temporary altar for when the Latin church has the space, over the place where Jesus was laid, his body was laid. But it was proclaiming the Gospel, there in the Tomb, where everywhere you go in the Holy Land, you celebrate the Mass of the spot or the shrine. So in Bethlehem, at the Church of the Nativity, you celebrate a Christmas Mass. There at the Tomb, you celebrate an Easter Mass. And so it was the Gospel for Easter morning of Mary Magdalene coming to the Tomb. And in the English translation read every Easter is, "On the first morning of the week while it was still early, Mary Magdalene came to the tomb." but they changed the wording, and I didn't look at... I kinda skimmed the Gospel really quick, but I didn't look that close 'cause I... so familiar with it, and had looked at it the night before, too, in preparation, knowing that that's what we were gonna celebrate. But the translation I had was changed, and it said, "On the first morning of the week, early in the morning, mary magdalene came to this tomb." And when I said, "This tomb," it was like all of my breath went out of me and I couldn't say anything for a few moments. It was just the realization of standing there in this tomb, celebrating Mass, where Christ's body had laid and then was risen by the Father. Just the immensity of that struck me and, and I just had to pause. Olivier: When we're halfway around the world and we hear things like that, or just going through Triduum a couple weeks ago, you know, "Behold the wood of the cross," "This is the night," from the Exsultet, those are kind of the same idea, but it can feel distant because we're not in those places where those things happened. Mm-hmm. But I think for you to actually be there, I mean, yeah, like you said, it took your breath away. Fr. Mike: Right. and just, I was asked, earlier today, I was in the seventh grade classroom, what's my favorite sacrament to celebrate? and they're all joyful, to celebrate sacraments. but the privilege to be able to celebrate the Eucharist, each and every day, to stand at that altar, to speak those words that Christ spoke the Last Supper, and to be present to, to this great miracle that happens where this bread and wine before us becomes the body and blood of Christ is such an incredible privilege. and there are times that celebrating Mass, the immensity of that is just overcoming, and just have to pause sometimes. I realize that I have a responsibility and the people, especially 6:45 Mass, have to get to work and I can't take forever for those moments. but it just, it's-- as, as much as it was present to me in that reality in the tomb, it's present in the chapel here or in the church here. a number of years ago when, St. John Paul II made his last pilgrimage to the United States and he was in St. Louis, I went with parishioners from Battle Creek to go see him, and I got opportunity to concelebrate that Mass. Now, I wasn't very close. there's a big gap between where the sanctuary was and where the concelebrating priests were. But there was 350,000 people that were in that stadium and in the convention center right next door watching on closed circuit. and then the following Sunday, I was at my mission church of St. Francis de Sales in Schoolcraft, where there's 40 people. and the Eucharist was just that realization the Eucharist is no different. celebrating with the Holy Father., there were 350,000 people. We're celebrating in Schoolcraft Church, St. Francis de Sales, with 40 people that's on a corner of two gravel roads. It is the same Eucharist and the same true, full presence. Olivier: And just that word "this," and then the word that's right next to it, I think, which is "now," the nearness of God. I think of the old translation where we used to say, "Christ has died, Christ is risen, Christ will come again." we sometimes think too much... Not too much. We think a lot about Christ has died or Christ will come again, but is risen, like here and now, and He's doing something here and now. Like we heard last week at the talk on Catholic social teaching, it's not what would Jesus do if He were here, it's what is Jesus doing because He is here. Fr. Mike: Right. He's alive. He is here. Emily: And I think also some of what you were saying speaks to the universality of the Church, right? The Mass is the same. The Eucharist is the same, whether there's many people or few people. We can wonder what is the Lord doing here at St. Wenceslaus, or sometimes we can be tempted to look at another parish or another country and say, "Wow, look at what the Lord's doing there. It seems like He isn't moving here." And the reality that He's always moving and doing something new. He is risen, and He's always doing something. and just that tension of having hopeful eyes to see, but also, rejoicing at what others might be experiencing, and just that reality of He is elsewhere, but He is also right here and so close and so ready to do something new. Fr. Mike: And He's always, always doing that, and it is incredible, and we see incredible things happening here at St. Wenceslaus. one of the blessings that I see in some of the fruits of the faithfulness of so many people here and how the Spirit's working here is the number of people that we had join the Church this past year. Also, the number of, young men that we have, in the seminary and that are also seriously, discerning that. Whether that's their call or not, they're asking the question, and they have that support of the community around them that... And something's happening with that spirit that they're asking that question. At least they're asking and looking at it seriously. Olivier: It was pretty amazing to see all those baptisms at the vigil this year. I think it was maybe the most we've ever had, or at least in a very long time. Was it 13 or 14? Emily: I think 13. Olivier: 13. 13 baptisms, and, I remember that one young lady who came out of the font after her baptism, and she just, threw her hands in the air, and she was weeping, and everybody was smiling, and I was trying not to cry, and then I was like, "All right, I'm crying." I Fr. Mike: She got my hair wet. That was the only baptism that got my hair wet. Olivier: Come on, that's all you could think of? Fr. Mike: it is a great, expression of the joy of the moment- for all of them. and, I was so glad that she felt so free, 'cause she was shaking a little bit as she was coming down and not sure, but- Right but once she was lifted up that third time and got to her feet, that was the just pure joy that came through. Olivier: Yeah. Well, there's a Holy Land connection to those baptisms from last year. Would you tell us about that? Fr. Mike: with my second trip to the Holy Land, one of the things that I brought back quite naturally a Diet Coke bottle, was water from the Jordan River, from the baptismal site, where Jesus was baptized by John the Baptist. And so collected that water from the Jordan River, brought it back. I had it in the freezer, and I'd given water out to people, got them some water bottles and distributed them. Used them a few other times, but I thought with these baptisms and the Easter vigil, this would be a great opportunity to take the rest of that water and just add it to the water that was in the font. And that connection to, the baptism we share with Jesus, that Jesus chose to share with us, and especially on that Easter vigil night. Olivier: And there's no text for this, but, like, we could say, "This is the water." Yes. Inthe other ways, this is the place, you know, this is the night, this is the water. Fr. Mike: Taking a little piece of the place and having it here present. Olivier: that's beautiful. Fr. Mike, we've really enjoyed having you on the show for our first episode of the "St. Wenceslaus Podcast. would you like to lead us in a closing prayer? Fr. Mike: Let us pray. Loving Fr., we thank you for the way that you call each and every one of us. You call us to serve you, to use the gifts that you've given us to serve our brothers and sisters. thank you for all those here, especially at St. Wenceslaus Parish, who are sharing that gift through the sacrament of holy orders, through the sacrament of marriage, through the gifts that they share with their brothers and sisters, and the service that they give, and the ministries they do. We pray that we always are able to discern your will for our lives, to see how you're calling us in new and wonderful ways, and always have the grace of the Holy Spirit to have the strength to follow what it is that you're calling us to. We ask this through the intercession of St. Wenceslaus, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, who lives and reigns with you in unity of the Holy Spirit, God forever and ever. Olivier: Amen.