Episode Archive

79 episodes of Thoughts from the Trailer with Fr. John Riccardo since the first episode, which aired on January 25th, 2023.

  • Episode 19: ALL

    May 31st, 2023  |  4 mins 57 secs
    acts xxix, actsxxix, encouragement, faith, fr. john riccardo, hope, inspiration, mission, prayer, reflections, weekly

    “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me."

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    Episode 18: The Experience of Faith

    May 24th, 2023  |  5 mins 31 secs
    acts xxix, actsxxix, encouragement, faith, fr. john riccardo, hope, inspiration, mission, prayer, reflections, weekly

    Jesus has never said that our life should be a desert journey. If we understand the Christian life in this way, it should not surprise us that many turn their backs on the Church and Christianity and just go on to other traditions that promise peace, joy, and a full life. This is a reaction, not against Christianity, but against a type of Christianity that has lost its authenticity.

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    Episode 17: Come, Lord and Giver of Life!

    May 17th, 2023  |  6 mins 26 secs
    acts xxix, actsxxix, encouragement, faith, fr. john riccardo, hope, inspiration, mission, prayer, reflections, weekly

    Jesus told His disciples, and us, that it would be better for us if He left, so that another Advocate could come (cf. John 16:7). At first glance, this doesn’t make sense.

  • Episode 16: Let Us Approach With Confidence

    May 10th, 2023  |  5 mins 1 sec
    acts xxix, actsxxix, encouragement, faith, fr. john riccardo, hope, inspiration, mission, prayer, reflections, weekly

    Mark explained what he was going to do and then exposed the Lord in the Eucharist and slowly placed the stole around the monstrance on the altar. Almost immediately, in my mind’s eye, I “saw” Jesus standing there on the altar, the one and only true Priest.

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    Episode 15: What Would He Say To Us?

    May 3rd, 2023  |  4 mins 17 secs
    acts xxix, actsxxix, encouragement, faith, fr. john riccardo, hope, inspiration, mission, prayer, reflections, weekly

    It’s not unusual to hear prayers for “a new Pentecost.” Do we really want that? Do we really want the Holy Spirit to fall on us, consume us, overwhelm us, set our hearts on fire, move us to surrender everything to Jesus in faith, and catapult us out into our streets to do now what the apostles did then?

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    Episode 14: Do We Have What It Takes?

    April 26th, 2023  |  10 mins 28 secs
    acts xxix, actsxxix, encouragement, faith, fr. john riccardo, hope, inspiration, mission, prayer, reflections, weekly

    We need a Church unafraid of going forth into their night.

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    Episode 13: Her Face

    April 19th, 2023  |  7 mins 19 secs
    acts xxix, actsxxix, encouragement, faith, fr. john riccardo, hope, inspiration, mission, prayer, reflections, weekly

    There are some pretty funny things in Scripture. I think we often read the Word of God with nowhere near enough of a sense of humor. God is all-powerful, omnipotent, and omniscient. But He also is funny.

  • Episode 12: Harrowing of Hell

    April 12th, 2023  |  9 mins 28 secs
    acts xxix, actsxxix, encouragement, faith, fr. john riccardo, hope, inspiration, mission, prayer, reflections, weekly

    There is a favorite icon of the Eastern Church known as the anastasis. Anastasis is the Greek word for resurrection. Icons, we might remember, aren’t paintings. Rather, they are “written” to be something like windows into the mysteries they are depicting. Placing ourselves in front of them, asking the Holy Spirit to come to us, can draw us into whatever it is that is placed before our senses.

  • Episode 11: The Hunter Makes His Move

    April 5th, 2023  |  8 mins 10 secs
    acts xxix, actsxxix, encouragement, faith, fr. john riccardo, hope, inspiration, mission, prayer, reflections, weekly

    As we prepare to enter into the holiest days of the year, the days that celebrate the liberation of our race from Death, Sin, hell and Satan, we need to keep reminding ourselves that he is not the helpless victim here.

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    Episode 10: Getting a New Address

    March 29th, 2023  |  4 mins 45 secs
    acts xxix, actsxxix, encouragement, faith, fr. john riccardo, hope, inspiration, mission, prayer, reflections, weekly

    Few things can compare for me with baptizing an adult. Most of us standing in the font on that wondrous night are filled with a holy jealousy, as we watch men and women walk into the water one way and leave another.

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    Episode 9: The Mission and Task of Fatherhood

    March 22nd, 2023  |  5 mins 12 secs
    acts xxix, actsxxix, encouragement, faith, fr. john riccardo, hope, inspiration, mission, prayer, reflections, weekly

    It’s often said about parents that they’re only as happy as their least happy child. I have always admired this about the moms and dads I know. There is no time off, or away from, their children – no matter how old they are. Indeed, their hearts ache for their children.

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    Episode 8: Taking Back Ground in Our Own Lives for the Kingdom

    March 15th, 2023  |  4 mins 23 secs
    acts xxix, actsxxix, encouragement, faith, fr. john riccardo, hope, inspiration, mission, prayer, reflections, weekly

    A Jewish son, heir to his father’s significant wealth, runs out of that wealth and then hires himself out – sells himself to another – to feed … pigs. Pigs! A Jewish man enslaves himself to feed an unclean animal that he himself cannot eat. This is a truly pathetic state.