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 118 Episodes.
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Episode 25: As Nothing?
July 12th, 2023 | 6 mins 42 secs
acts xxix, actsxxix, encouragement, faith, fr. john riccardo, hope, inspiration, mission, prayer, reflections, weekly
Paul reminds us of a most important truth. There, he teaches us that while suffering is never a good, it can be used for good things.
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Episode 24: Shedding What is a Hindrance
July 5th, 2023 | 4 mins 37 secs
acts xxix, actsxxix, encouragement, faith, fr. john riccardo, hope, inspiration, mission, prayer, reflections, weekly
As I prayed with this, I was immediately struck by how relevant that little detail is for so many of us. How tempted I am to think that many of the things that other people, or other ministries, need I must also need.
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Episode 23: The Real World
June 28th, 2023 | 7 mins 43 secs
acts xxix, actsxxix, encouragement, faith, fr. john riccardo, hope, inspiration, mission, prayer, reflections, weekly
Americans don’t usually like bad news. Oh, to be sure, we seem to enjoy reading other people’s “dirty laundry,” as an 80’s song once put it. But confronting the reality of demons who hate and are seeking to degrade, enslave and destroy us…? Uh, no thanks.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.