In this Full Show, Bishop William Joensen and co-host Jean Thill welcome Father Richard Veras, Director of Pastoral Formation and associate professor of homiletics at Saint Joseph's Seminary in Dunwoodie, New York. Father Veras was in the Diocese of Des Moines for the ordination to the transitional diaconate of Luke Moen, a seminarian he is helping to form, and he shares the spiritual depth behind decades of preaching, teaching, and writing. Bishop Joensen's opening reflections: Recent ordinations across the diocese, including Deacon Luke Moen's transitional diaconate and the priestly ordination of Father Stan at the Cathedral of Saint Ambrose. Father Stan, warmly supported by his home Basilica Parish, begins his ministry at Saint Patrick's in Council Bluffs under first pastor Father Joel McNeil — greeted by a bus of fifty parishioners. The local Biking for Babies ride, starting from Saint Luke's and following the High Trestle Trail to Woodward and back, supporting InnerVisions, Martha's House of Hope, Ruth's Harbor, and Agape. To sponsor a rider or give to these central Iowa pregnancy resource centers, visit bikingforbabies.com. The close of confirmation season — including Saint Theresa's 75th anniversary Mass and confirmation at Saint Mary's in Hamburg — and the nation's upcoming 250th anniversary celebrations. In conversation with Father Veras: The art of preaching: why a homilist must "preach like himself" and find an authentic voice rather than a formal "preaching voice," and how literature and the humanities give a preacher a human heart. An unexpected vocation: studying English at Hofstra, writing advertising copy for a toy company, and discovering — through the lay movement Communion and Liberation — that the parish priesthood was anything but "humdrum." Forming the Des Moines seminarians in New York, where assignments in prison ministry, hospice at Calvary Hospital, Memorial Sloan Kettering, and Hispanic ministry at Saint Brendan's in the Bronx stretch and strengthen them. Ministry at Ground Zero: Father Veras recalls September 11 from St. Joseph-St. Thomas on Staten Island and serving a shift at Ground Zero weeks later. Magnificat and mentorship: writing for Magnificat since 1999, succeeding Father Peter Cameron as homiletics professor, and his latest book, The Word Made Flesh: Foreshadowed, Fulfilled, Forever. Support for Iowa Catholic Radio and Making It Personal is provided by Serra Vocations Ministry. Learn more at joinSerra.org. Learn more and listen to past episodes at IowaCatholicRadio.com. #MakingItPersonal #BishopJoensen #IowaCatholicRadio #CatholicPodcast #CatholicRadio #FatherRichardVeras #Homiletics #Preaching #CatholicPriest #Seminary #Vocations #Magnificat #DioceseOfDesMoines #CommunionAndLiberation #PriestlyFormation #CatholicFaith #Evangelization #StJosephsSeminary #Catholic #Faith Iowa Catholic Radio Network Shows: Be Not Afraid with Fr. Fabian Moncada and Fr. Bruce RiebeBe Not Afraid in Spanish with Fr. Fabian MoncadaCatholic Women Now with Chris Magruder and Julie NelsonMaking It Personal with Bishop William JoensenMan Up! with Joe StopulosSunday Dive with Katie PatrizioThe Catholic Morning Show with Dr. Bo BonnerThe Daily Gospel Reflection with Fr. Nick SmithThe Uncommon Good with Bo Bonner and Dr. Bud MarrFaith and Family Finance with Gregory WaddleWant to support your favorite show? Click Here Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.