Podcast shares “Joy of the Eucharist”

This story is the first in a series previewing the Eucharistic Congress.


Victorine Yapi sat silently, reflectively in prayer inside the adoration chapel at Saint John the Baptist Catholic Church in Edmond.

There, unexpectedly, a single word flowed into her mind.

Podcast.

What did it mean, especially for someone not particularly engaged in podcasts?

Yapi soon wondered if she had an answer, as fellow Saint John parishioner Stephanie Stovall entered the chapel.

“She isn’t somebody who listens to podcasts and isn’t into social media or anything like that,” Stovall said. “So when the word podcast came to her out of nowhere, she was really confused by it.”

After a period of dedicated prayer and discernment, Yapi believed the word was meant for Stovall and Father Alex Kroll, a priest at Saint John the Baptist Catholic Church, and shared that with the two.

A show was born, with Stovall and Father Kroll now deep into the “Joy of the Eucharist,” a weekly podcast combining stories from parishioners on their experiences with the Eucharist with catechesis.

“The vulnerability of our parishioners, really opening their hearts, really being transparent and showing their joys and sorrows around the Eucharist, I think is a beautiful thing,” Father Kroll said. “That vulnerability and authenticity is what makes for any good sharing and witness of the gospel.”

It’s an important topic in the Church, during this period of Eucharistic Revival, and also leading into the Eucharistic Congress scheduled for July in Indianapolis, where some 80,000 will gather to celebrate and encounter Jesus in the Eucharist.

The Archdiocese, led by Archbishop Paul Coakley, is committed to the National Eucharistic Congress, with travel packages available for the pilgrimage via multiple buses to Indianapolis, with a stop in St. Louis for Masses at both the new and old cathedrals in the city.

Information about the pilgrimage can be found at archokc.org/nec2024.

Through the “Joy of the Eucharist” podcast, Father Kroll and Stovall hope to share personal and local stories centered on the power of the Eucharist. Already, they’ve experienced many.

“We’ve heard people say they signed up for an adoration hour because they listened to the podcast,” Stovall said. “Or that they didn’t realize you didn’t have to spend a whole hour, they never thought about it as possibly stopping by and saying hello to Jesus really quick. 

“So it’s impacting their prayer life, which is the whole reason we decided to do this, to bring more love, desire, belief and reverence to the Eucharist.”

For Father Kroll and Stovall, doing a podcast wasn’t something they’d ever considered, until the prompting from Yapi, who fittingly became the subject of Episode 1 back in September.
Neither had even been big partakers of podcasts.

Yet, considering where the idea originated …

“Obviously, the origin was in prayer, so we had to take it seriously,” Father Kroll said with a laugh. “Through these opening months of the podcast, stories of guests and others have confirmed it’s a good thing.

“What’s really surprised me, I expected the parishioners to have good reflections about the Eucharistic, but I’ve been blown away with how deep and profound their encounters with the Eucharist have been.

“That’s been the surprising and beautiful thing for me.”

One man took on an overnight hour of adoration, “because one of your (podcast) guests said the night hours is when the miracles happen. I might not have done it otherwise, but I’m excited to see those miracles.”

A young lady who was a student at Oklahoma Christian University told Father Kroll she was thinking about becoming Catholic and falling in love with the Eucharist.

“I said, ‘You should listen to this podcast,’” he said. “And she loves it.”

The Saint John podcasting duo did episodes on Advent, connecting the Eucharist, and will roll out a Lenten series that begins Ash Wednesday.

Father Kroll and Stovall, who is on staff at Saint John, developed a faith relationship long before the podcast. Their fun and engaging personalities come through in the podcast.

“We joke around and have fun while talking about the most important thing ever,” Father Kroll said.

And the podcast comes at an important time, amid the National Eucharistic Revival, a movement to help Catholics better understand Church teaching that states the Eucharist is truly the source and summit of the faith, featuring the real presence of Jesus Christ.

“Seventy percent of Catholics don’t believe in the (real presence in the) Eucharist,” Stovall said. “That is our greatest tragedy. And if we don’t do something to fix that, then what are we doing? We’re not living out our faith.”

Father Kroll said he hopes the National Eucharistic Congress creates unstoppable momentum in restoring full belief in the Eucharist.

“It’s a witness to the whole world, for sure, that all these Catholics are doing something crazy in Indianapolis,” he said. “And I think the goal of the congress is to send out Eucharistic missionaries after the congress is over, to every corner of the United States.

“And let those Eucharistic missionaries work on those fallen-away Catholics, the doubting Catholics – as we all have doubted at times – to strengthen their Eucharistic faith.”

John Helsley is the editor of the Sooner Catholic.