Thoughts from the Trailer with Fr. John Riccardo

This Son has sent His Holy Spirit to dwell in our hearts, to make us dwelling places of the living God. He has come to enlighten our minds, helping us to see reality as it truly is — in the hands of this good Father, thereby rescuing us from despair. ======= Have a comment about this podcast? Contact us! Click To Learn More About ACTS XXIX

November is a month that the Church has, from ancient times, set aside to pray for all of the dead and to ponder our own death. Pondering our own death is to think about that real day when we will stand before the Lord and render an account to Him of what we did with our lives, how we spoke, acted — and failed to act (cf. Matthew 25:31-46; Rev 20:12-3). We all desire to hear the Lord say those most extraordinary words to us, “Well done! Good and faithful servant! Enter into the joy of your Master!” (Matthew 25:21). ======= Have a comment about this podcast? Contact us! Click To Learn More About ACTS XXIX

The enemy is forever trying to intimidate. He whispers lies into our minds that are variations on this theme: “You’re all alone. You’re outnumbered. You’re undermanned. You don’t have a chance.” But he is a liar. The truth is, we are anything but alone. And not only are we not alone, we are part of a communion that exceeds all we can comprehend.  ======= Have a comment about this podcast? Contact us! Click To Learn More About ACTS XXIX

Paul came to Thessalonica and began preaching Jesus to people who had literally never heard His name before. Some of these people were Jewish, and many others were steeped in idolatry and the worship of the Roman gods. But the power of the Gospel, that is, the announcement of the wonders that God had done for the entire human race in the person of His Son, combined with signs and wonders and the power of the Holy Spirit at work, led people to turn from worshiping idols to worshiping the one, true God. ======= Have a comment about this podcast? Contact us! Click To Learn More About ACTS XXIX

Too often, I think, we imagine the saints to be statues or stained glass windows, and forget that they were men and women with pasts, some of which make some of us blush, and others of us feel downright, well, hopeful! Now available, The Resistance: God’s Plan for Renewing the Human Family is a bold and timely call to join what Fr. Riccardo describes as “a great campaign of resistance.” It sends us into every sphere of human activity to help restore God’s design by confronting the prevailing cultural trends of anger, division, utility, and materialism; fostering healing where there is brokenness; bringing light where there is darkness; and renewing purpose where all seems lost. Buy your copy here! Have a comment about this podcast? Contact us! Click To Learn More About ACTS XXIX

Men and women came from more than 270 cities and 36 States — with 1000 people on a waiting list! I’ve tried to find the right words to convey what the Lord did over the course of less than three full days…but I can’t. Yet. ======= Have a comment about this podcast? Contact us! Click To Learn More About ACTS XXIX

Perhaps the key is found in what comes next. “In everything … make your needs known to God.” And who is God? God is a good Father. He’s faithful. He keeps His promises. He is love. He has rescued the world from the tyrannical grip of the enemy, and by His Son has defeated the powers of Death and Sin. This is the one to whom we pray when we pray. ======= Have a comment about this podcast? Contact us! Click To Learn More About ACTS XXIX

The “social media” of the ancient world was coinage. Emperors inscribed on coins various things to promote themselves, call attention to their great deeds, and especially to show their victories in battle. From these coins we can see useful comparisons between how Paul describes Jesus and the victorious triumphs of Roman emperors and generals. Have a comment about this podcast? Contact us! Click To Learn More About ACTS XXIX

A few weeks back, we read the beginning of Romans 12, where we heard Paul’s exhortation to not be conformed to this world, to not let it squeeze us into its way of thinking, nor to allow ourselves to be squeezed into its way of thinking. But don’t most of us do that all the time?! Today, as we ponder Augustine’s rich insight, we see what’s at stake. ======= Have a comment about this podcast? Contact us! Click To Learn More About ACTS XXIX

Blessed Solanus Casey powerfully embodied what Paul calls all of us to be and to do for one another. He is a most moving testimony of the same words Paul offered  to the Church in Corinth: “If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I am a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal. If … I have not love, I am nothing.” ======= Have a comment about this podcast? Contact us! Click To Learn More About ACTS XXIX