FR. JOHN RICCARDO, missionary and ACTS XXIX Executive Director. He was ordained a priest of the Archdiocese of Detroit in 1996. In 2019, after 23 years in parish ministry, he founded Acts XXIX to proclaim the gospel in an attractive and compelling way and to equip clergy and lay leaders for the age in which God has chosen us to live. Fr. John is a graduate of the University of Michigan, the Gregorian University, and the Pope John Paul II Institute for Studies on Marriage and the Family.
Fr. John Riccardo has hosted 92 Episodes.
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Episode 84: Should I Stay Or Should I Go?
August 28th, 2024 | 7 mins 18 secs
acts xxix, actsxxix, encouragement, faith, fr. john riccardo, hope, inspiration, mission, prayer, reflections, weekly
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.
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Episode 83: A Sheep in Wolf’s Clothing
August 21st, 2024 | 10 mins 11 secs
acts xxix, actsxxix, encouragement, faith, fr. john riccardo, hope, inspiration, mission, prayer, reflections, weekly
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?
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Episode 82: A Way to Understand the Will of the Lord
August 14th, 2024 | 6 mins 17 secs
acts xxix, actsxxix, encouragement, faith, fr. john riccardo, hope, inspiration, mission, prayer, reflections, weekly
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.
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Episode 81: One Indicator of the Success of the Eucharistic Revival
August 7th, 2024 | 8 mins 26 secs
acts xxix, actsxxix, encouragement, faith, fr. john riccardo, hope, inspiration, mission, prayer, reflections, weekly
Many in the Church in our country are continuing to bask in the beauty that was the National Eucharistic Revival.
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Episode 80: Loving the Lord With All Our Minds
July 31st, 2024 | 7 mins 54 secs
acts xxix, actsxxix, encouragement, faith, fr. john riccardo, hope, inspiration, mission, prayer, reflections, weekly
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.
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Episode 79: Do We Recognize How Important Unity Is?
July 24th, 2024 | 10 mins 1 sec
acts xxix, actsxxix, encouragement, faith, fr. john riccardo, hope, inspiration, mission, prayer, reflections, weekly
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
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Episode 78: What Do They See When They Look At Us?
July 17th, 2024 | 11 mins 25 secs
acts xxix, actsxxix, encouragement, faith, fr. john riccardo, hope, inspiration, mission, prayer, reflections, weekly
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.
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Episode 77: We Exist For His Praise…and Yet!
July 10th, 2024 | 8 mins 38 secs
acts xxix, actsxxix, encouragement, faith, fr. john riccardo, hope, inspiration, mission, prayer, reflections, weekly
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.
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Episode 76: Building Upon Rock
July 3rd, 2024 | 8 mins 18 secs
acts xxix, actsxxix, encouragement, faith, fr. john riccardo, hope, inspiration, mission, prayer, reflections, weekly
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.
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Episode 75: Looking Through The Lens of Generosity
June 26th, 2024 | 6 mins 14 secs
acts xxix, actsxxix, encouragement, faith, fr. john riccardo, hope, inspiration, mission, prayer, reflections, weekly
What we might not realize, given how often many parishes take up such “special collections” is that while we have become accustomed to such things, nobody ever did this in times long past.
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Episode 74: What Does it Mean to "Be Catholic?"
June 19th, 2024 | 5 mins 3 secs
acts xxix, actsxxix, encouragement, faith, fr. john riccardo, hope, inspiration, mission, prayer, reflections, weekly
Who am I living for? Who are you living for? Is it really the Lord?
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Episode 73: Some Common Misunderstandings and a Day to Eagerly Anticipate!
June 12th, 2024 | 8 mins 15 secs
acts xxix, actsxxix, encouragement, faith, fr. john riccardo, hope, inspiration, mission, prayer, reflections, weekly
When Paul writes that “we walk by faith and not by sight,” he certainly does not mean that faith is blind, or lacking in evidence. Paul, after all, met the risen Jesus in the flesh, and heard Him speaking to Him on the road to Damascus.