Episode 123: God's Ladders

June 18th, 2025  |  9 mins 14 secs

acts xxix, actsxxix, encouragement, faith, fr. john riccardo, hope, inspiration, mission, prayer, reflections, weekly

I’m thinking of Dr. Kreeft this week since we’re going to be celebrating the solemnity of Corpus Christi, that is, the solemnity of the Body and Blood of Our Lord Jesus Christ. A convert to Catholicism, Kreeft has what I consider to be the single most helpful book to start with if we want to dive deep into this most magnificent (and often misunderstood or taken for granted) gift Jesus has left to the Church.

Episode 122: The Real G.O.A.T

June 11th, 2025  |  5 mins 13 secs

acts xxix, actsxxix, encouragement, faith, fr. john riccardo, hope, inspiration, mission, prayer, reflections, weekly

Sports fans often argue about who they think the G.O.A.T. is in any given sport (Greatest Of All Time). Here’s the truth: Jesus is the real G.O.A.T. — and it isn’t even close. He has defeated the power of Death, the power of Sin, and the enemy of our race, the devil. And one day, when He returns to make all things new, He will destroy them, wipe away every tear from our eye, and usher us into the abundant life He has prepared us for.

Episode 121: How the Spirit Comforts Us

June 4th, 2025  |  7 mins 40 secs

acts xxix, actsxxix, encouragement, faith, fr. john riccardo, hope, inspiration, mission, prayer, reflections, weekly

"As we prepare this weekend for the great solemnity of Pentecost, I have found myself re-reading this spiritual gem. There is one excerpt in particular that is simply too good to keep to myself; I pray others will find the following as helpful and encouraging as I do."

Episode 120: Heaven’s Ticker-Tape Parade

May 28th, 2025  |  6 mins 32 secs

acts xxix, actsxxix, encouragement, faith, fr. john riccardo, hope, inspiration, mission, prayer, reflections, weekly

"Worship is something that I would argue makes up very little of most people’s prayer. Our prayer is usually dominated by intercessions of one kind or another, and that’s alright as Jesus told us to ask after all. But this week, let us be intentional to worship the King. Let us imagine how we would have felt back in 1945 to have heard the war is finally over; to see ourselves on those streets as the soldiers returned home after having fought for us; to know this all happened for us, and to pour out our praise and honor to the One who is Lord and who has triumphed by His love."

Episode 119: Begging the Spirit to Do What Only He Can Do

May 21st, 2025  |  6 mins 8 secs

acts xxix, actsxxix, encouragement, faith, fr. john riccardo, hope, inspiration, mission, prayer, reflections, weekly

The Church is supposed to be a sign of unity and communion for the world, the means by which the human race, scattered by sin and more, is not only reconciled to God but to each other. In fact, nothing else can accomplish this end, so desperately needed right now in a culture and world that is so prone to demonize “the other.” When Pope Leo says that the Church is to be “a small leaven…within the world” he means that disciples are supposed to interact with and touch the world, just as leaven interacts and touches the dough, making the world “rise” and become more genuinely human.

Episode 118: God Makes All Things New – Especially People

May 14th, 2025  |  8 mins 57 secs

acts xxix, actsxxix, encouragement, faith, fr. john riccardo, hope, inspiration, mission, prayer, reflections, weekly

Peter must have been aware of the whispers behind his back about his denials, concerns about his past, and various other attacks on his character. Not just from the anonymous crowds, but especially from within the small group of the Apostles. He might even have expected Cornelius to question him about his lack of loyalty. Instead Peter is free because he is the recipient of God’s version of the ”cancel culture.” Unlike the one we currently live in, where people get canceled because of past failures and indiscretions, God’s version cancels the failures and indiscretions — not the people who committed them — thereby enabling us to begin again. 

Episode 117: Are We Able to Warm People’s Hearts?

April 30th, 2025  |  11 mins 36 secs

acts xxix, actsxxix, encouragement, faith, fr. john riccardo, hope, inspiration, mission, prayer, reflections, weekly

While many in the world and the Church are eagerly awaiting the start of the conclave and the election of the next successor to St. Peter, we are still in what are officially known as the nine days of mourning for Pope Francis. As such, we are called to pray for the repose of his soul in an intentional way. It’s also been a time for me to revisit some of the many things he wrote that deeply inspired and convicted me, both as a disciple and as a priest. In particular, I have found myself returning over and over to a gathering he had with the bishops of Brazil shortly after he was elected in 2013.

Episode 116: How Death Was Undone

April 16th, 2025  |  13 mins 16 secs

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In her masterful book, The Crucifixion: Understanding the Death of Jesus Christ, Fleming Rutledge writes perhaps better than any author I’m aware of on the sheer horror of death in this fashion. What follows are a series of excerpts from her book, and while this may be a longer post than usual, it might be worth taking with us to the celebrations that are about to begin, to help us better understand what’s happening to Him for us.

Episode 115: Standing Alone With Jesus

April 9th, 2025  |  8 mins 53 secs

acts xxix, actsxxix, encouragement, faith, fr. john riccardo, hope, inspiration, mission, prayer, reflections, weekly

We – the guilty, the enslaved, the foolish, the rebellious, the unfaithful, the creatures – go free and have life because He – the Innocent, the Lord, the King, the Creator, the Son – placed Himself into the hands of Death.

What kind of God is this? What kind of love is this? Who am I that my King should allow Himself to be torn to shreds when it is I who should be?

Episode 114: The Tsunami That Is Baptism

April 2nd, 2025  |  6 mins 23 secs

acts xxix, actsxxix, encouragement, faith, fr. john riccardo, hope, inspiration, mission, prayer, reflections, weekly

Baptism, like the tsunami, causes things to drown. What things? Sin, guilt, the pasts by which we feel haunted. I know few things as a priest that compare with standing inside the font at the Easter Vigil, waiting in the water for those standing outside it to step in...