Thoughts from the Trailer with Fr. John Riccardo

The Scriptures that we hear this week and in the days ahead serve as a herald breathlessly shouting with joy that the war has been won! Our enemy, our only enemy, the devil and his fallen angels, has been defeated. The One through whom the entire universe was made, who fashioned each of us out of love in His own image and likeness to be loved and to love, has chosen to become man. God has come to...

God is with us. The all-powerful Lord of heaven and earth, who humbled Himself to be born of the virgin, who suffered the shame of the cross, and who triumphed over Sin, Death and Satan, is with us. And He doesn’t just sit beside us, like a good friend, unable to do anything. He gives us grace, strength, and all that we need to endure, to persevere, to hang on, to trust, confident that those who t...

The early Church won people to the Lord Jesus by being immensely attractive and by showing forth a different way of being human. It was usually only after those encounters with Christians that those who did not know God came into the Church to be baptized, feast on the Eucharist, and join the community of believers. It will almost certainly be the same now. ======= Have a comment about this podcas...

Ours is a culture that often mistakenly equates greatness with things like money, fame, titles and other such things. The saints show us the truth. The truly great ones are the ones who love. As we enter into these Advent days, let us call upon the intercession of Blessed Solanus, and those others to whom we are especially close, that our love may increase and abound, in order that we might become...

Revelation 1:5-8 These tasks and responsibilities of the king, all gloriously fulfilled in “Jesus Christ, ruler of the kings of the earth,” help to inform our understanding of what it means to participate in His Kingship and how we’re supposed to exercise that participation. In short, we are called to have our eyes and hearts wide open to those around us who are in need – wherever they may be: the...

Hebrews 10:11-14, 18 This week, Hebrews tells us Jesus has made us “perfect.” This is a way of saying that as believers we have now become priests or, better, sharers in Jesus’ priesthood. This happened at our baptism. While I think most people are aware that baptism makes a person a priest, prophet and king, I don’t think most people understand the significance of these momentous truths. We’ve lo...

Hebrews 9:24-28 God is always faithful. He knows what He’s doing. And He is the Author and prime Actor in all of history. These are the things that we need to keep our eyes fixed on. He has proven His love for us by going to the cross, defeating the enemies of the entire human race – Satan, Sin and Death. ======= Have a comment about this podcast? Contact us! Click To Learn More About ACTS XXIX

Hebrews 7:23-28 Jesus’ loving sacrifice on the cross, offered once for all on Calvary, is sacramentally made present at each and every Mass. Unlike how some misunderstand this teaching, the Church teaches that Jesus’ sacrifice offered once for all is made present for us in an unbloodied manner, and then – wonder of wonders! – His Blood (and Body) are not sprinkled on us but given to us to eat, so...

Hebrews 5:1-6 The Bible, it has been said, is a library. That is not to say there isn’t one sacred Author of all the books – God – who is revealing both in word and deed. It is to say that the Bible is not a single genre but is rather made up of many different genres. Within the Bible is poetry, historical narrative, apocalyptic, psalms, and many other styles of literature. What genre is The Lette...

All this is, indeed, extraordinarily beautiful. In prayer, you can contemplate this admirable love of God: Jesus "had to be made like his brethren in every respect, so that he might become a merciful and faithful High Priest in the service of God". He has accepted humiliation, suffering and death with immense generosity. Hebrews 4:14-16 ======= Have a comment about this podcast? Contact us! Click...

The saints knew that God had entrusted to them a mission in this life, a mission to both evangelize and go about the work of recreation and transformation of this world that He loves until Jesus returns and makes all things new. And while all the saints wrestled with sin (save our Lady), they eventually surrendered to His grace and became the true heroes of our race... Scripture: Hebrews 4:12-13 =...

Who are we to God? We are family to God. And if we are family to God, then we are brothers and sisters to one another. Why is this so important to linger with? Because though this language is almost certainly familiar to most of us in the Church, the lived experience of being a family in the Church is probably not... Scripture: Hebrews 2:9-11 ======= Have a comment about this podcast? Contact us!...

James isn’t telling us to sell everything and give it all to the poor. And Jesus only said that to one man, because that was the one thing that was holding him back from the fullness of life for which he was looking. Still, it is worth remembering that Jesus teaches us that wealth is a great danger. Why? ... Scripture: James 5:1-6 ======= Have a comment about this podcast? Contact us! Click To Lea...

We frequently hold up St. Joan of Arc as an example of magnanimity. Her famous words – “I am not afraid. God is with me. I was born for this!” – are not proud, arrogant or boastful words; they’re words that flow from a greatness of soul... Scripture: James 3:16-4:3 ======= Have a comment about this podcast? Contact us! Click To Learn More About ACTS XXIX

What does it mean when Josephus says, “Repent and believe in me”? He’s certainly not telling someone “how to get to heaven.” He’s more or less saying, “Abandon your current way of acting (in this case, by waging war against Rome) and put your trust in me.” Such an exhortation relates to action... (James 2:14-18) ======= Have a comment about this podcast? Contact us! Click To Learn More About ACTS...

Here’s the simple truth: there are no unimportant people. Every. Single. Person. On. The. Face. Of. The. Earth. Is. Made. In. God’s. Image. And. Likeness. Every. Single. Person. On. The. Face. Of. The. Earth. Is. Worth. Dying. For. To. God. Everyone. May the Holy Spirit open our eyes today and every day to see others as He does. And to love them, speak to them, and speak of them, accordingly. Jame...

Even though we’re beginning to open up the letter of James this week, my mind is still lingering with the Gospel from last week (John 6:60-69). In fact, I might suggest there’s a connection between these words from James and all that John recorded in that most momentous passage. James 1 ======= Have a comment about this podcast? Contact us! Click To Learn More About ACTS XXIX

What do I do when I come across such texts? Do I come at the text presuming the Word of God is wrong, or do I approach it humbly, willing to do the work necessary so as to understand what’s being revealed to us by the Holy Spirit? Ephesians 5:21-32 ======= Have a comment about this podcast? Contact us! Click To Learn More About ACTS XXIX

Over the past five years now, the Lord has been teaching us in ACTS XXIX some simple ways to return to what Cardinal Cantalamessa reminds us was the common modus operandi for the saints. Ephesians 5:15-20 ======= Have a comment about this podcast? Contact us! Click To Learn More About ACTS XXIX

Many in the Church in our country are continuing to bask in the beauty that was the National Eucharistic Revival. It has been described by more than a few as an event that could, please God, be similar in impact to St. John Paul II’s World Youth Day in Denver in 1993. Ephesians 4:30-5:2 ======= Have a comment about this podcast? Contact us! Click To Learn More About ACTS XXIX

Because everything starts in the mind, what we put into our minds, what we feed our thoughts with, is probably far more significant than we realize. In the same way that what we put into our mouths impacts our physical health, what we put into our minds impacts our spiritual and emotional health. Ephesians 4:17, 20-24 ======= Have a comment about this podcast? Contact us! Click To Learn More About...

Diabolos, the Greek word for the devil, is often translated as “the divider.” That’s good, but it doesn’t quite catch the whole meaning of the word, nor of the character and desire of the enemy of our race Ephesians 4:1-6 ======= Have a comment about this podcast? Contact us! Click To Learn More About ACTS XXIX

I had originally written this last Saturday morning. And then Saturday afternoon happened in Butler, Pa. I would suggest this is an astoundingly timely passage for the Church in our country and for each of us personally. Ephesians 2:13-18 ======= Have a comment about this podcast? Contact us! Click To Learn More About ACTS XXIX

The celebration of Mass has a “pace” to it. I once read it described as “ritualized play,” meaning that it is not a time so much for personal devotion as it is for communal worship – a worship for which God Himself has given us the instructions. Ephesians 1:3-14 ======= Have a comment about this podcast? Contact us! Click To Learn More About ACTS XXIX

I can, much to my chagrin, quickly fall into a sort of spiritual temper tantrum with the Lord when things don’t go as I would like them to, or imagine they should. 2 Corinthians 12:7-10 ======= Have a comment about this podcast? Contact us! Click To Learn More About ACTS XXIX