"As topically rich as it is catechetically gentle comes the new roots based and Celtic styled folk CD "Way to Emmaus" by tiber-jumping medical doctor and medical missionary Russ Rentler. Soundly Catholic and expressing themes seldom touched by today's standard "praise and worship" fare Russ combines his personal blend of humour and story telling pathos to bring listeners a unique devotional experience that holds up well on repeated listening."

Mike Aquilina (Catholic author and guest on EWTN) on Way to Emmaus:

"Tiber-hopper Russ Rentler is a blogger and doctor, but perhaps known best for his rootsy American music, hammered out with dulcimers, mandolins, and other such. Russ’s new disk, Way to Emmaus, is out and it echoes the Fathers often. “Untier of Knots” draws from Irenaeus’s image of Mary loosening the knot of Eve’s disobedience. “Late Have I Loved You” is, of course, straight out of Augustine (but personal to Russ as well). Russ’s rendition of “Old Time Religion” brings a smile as he invokes a litany of the Fathers. There are also striking arrangements of two of my old favorite hymns, “Holy God, We Praise Thy Name” and “Sing of Mary” — but like you’ve never heard them before. Much more, too."

Jeff Pinyan (Catholic author, blogger and catechist in Metuchen , NJ) says this:

"His new CD, Way to Emmaus, is a spiritual gem. The music is joyous, folky, and reverent. It's admittedly outside my normal listening spectrum, but the performance and content win me over. The thirteen songs on this CD pull from nearly 2000 years of wisdom revealed by God to His Church: Late I Have Loved You channels St. Augustine's struggle to let himself surrender to a "beauty so ancient yet ever-new", while The Offering is inspired by the "Prayer of Surrender" written by Rev. Walter J. Ciszek, SJ, a Polish-American priest who died in 1984. In Way to Emmaus, the title track, Russ captures the emotions of the two disciples as they walked, disappointed and disoriented, to Emmaus from Jerusalem where Christ was crucified; but Russ bares his soul and tells his own journey from Jerusalem towards Emmaus, through a time of doubts and questions, and finally back to Jerusalem, in Stained Glass Windows.

The more lighthearted tracks, such as Upsy Daisy Angel, Old Time Religion, and Nicean Blues (which I subtitle "A Little Church History"), provide some levity to balance the gravity of tracks like Whisper (which I subtitle "An Act of Contrition") and Room of Tears (where the newly elected pope dresses before he walks onto the balcony to greet the faithful). Also included is Russ's ode to the Blessed Virgin Mary, under the title given to her by St. Irenaeus: Untier of Knots. This Church Father wrote that "The knot of Eve's disobedience was untied by Mary's obedience: what the virgin Eve bound through her disbelief, Mary loosened by her faith." (Adv. haeres. 3, 22, 4; quoted in Catechism 494) There are two instrumental tracks, both of which are hymns you probably know: Holy God (We Praise Thy Name) and Sing of Mary.

Closing the CD is a song which touches upon the heart of Russ's other ministry, serving the poor of Haiti as a medic-missionary. Jewel of the Caribbean is a haunting look at the deep beauty of Port-Au-Prince which is shrouded by its poverty.