Displaying items 11-20 of 153 in total of Thoughts from the Trailer with Fr. John Riccardo with the tag "weekly".
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Episode 144: He’s Closer Than You Think!
December 10th, 2025 | 6 mins 37 secs
acts xxix, actsxxix, encouragement, faith, fr. john riccardo, hope, inspiration, mission, prayer, reflections, weekly
Generally speaking, the Latin word adventus means coming, or arrival. But there’s much more behind this word than meets the eye. You wouldn’t use it to describe, say, grandma coming for Thanksgiving (no offense to grandmas!). Adventus was an empire word. It had to do with a very specific ceremony in the Roman Empire.
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Episode 143: Know God, Know Hope
December 3rd, 2025 | 7 mins 45 secs
acts xxix, actsxxix, encouragement, faith, fr. john riccardo, hope, inspiration, mission, prayer, reflections, weekly
Advent is a time to prepare ourselves to celebrate the single most important event in the history of the universe: God becoming man to rescue His good creation from cosmic powers we could never defeat on our own and thus reconcile us to Himself and one another. It’s also a time to prepare ourselves for the very real day when this God-man will return as triumphant King to definitively make all things new.
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Episode 142: Thankfulness – The Heart of Prayer
November 26th, 2025 | 7 mins 8 secs
acts xxix, actsxxix, encouragement, faith, fr. john riccardo, hope, inspiration, mission, prayer, reflections, weekly
This week, as we celebrate with family and friends – and remember and miss greatly those family and friends who once sat with us and are now waiting for us on the other side of the veil – it would seem that burying ourselves in various psalms of thanksgiving would be a most appropriate thing to do.
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Episode 141: There is No King Like This
November 19th, 2025 | 6 mins 51 secs
acts xxix, actsxxix, encouragement, faith, fr. john riccardo, hope, inspiration, mission, prayer, reflections, weekly
This coming Sunday is the Solemnity of Jesus Christ, King of the Universe. What a name for a feast! That said, writing as an American, ours is a nation that doesn’t like kings all that much. Kings often conjure up in our minds images of men seated on thrones, living in luxury, remote from their people, who are often living much simpler and harder lives. How then are we to enter into, let alone celebrate, this feast?
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Episode 140: Forget About Them!
November 12th, 2025 | 6 mins 3 secs
acts xxix, actsxxix, encouragement, faith, fr. john riccardo, hope, inspiration, mission, prayer, reflections, weekly
As we draw nearer to the end of the liturgical year with next week’s solemnity of Christ the King, there is an increasingly urgent tone in the Scriptures. This coming Sunday, God’s Word through the prophet Malachi warns us that “the Day is coming,” that is the Day of King Jesus’ return, of wrapping up history, of judgment, and of making all things new. This “Day” is a certainty. It’s going to happen. And each and every one of us is going to stand face to face before the Lord of lords and King of kings. This King and Lord is gentle, compassionate and merciful – blessed be He! He is also, however, “a consuming fire”
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Episode 139: Is There No Greater Love?
October 29th, 2025 | 10 mins 40 secs
acts xxix, actsxxix, encouragement, faith, fr. john riccardo, hope, inspiration, mission, prayer, reflections, weekly
Paul says that Jesus didn’t lay down His life for His friends. In fact, Jesus died for His enemies! Jesus died, Paul writes, for the ungodly! Who does things like this? Nobody does things like this. Nobody willingly dies for their enemy, for bad people, for the ungodly, for the wicked. Nobody but God that is. And by so doing, Jesus turned enemies into friends and the ungodly and the wicked into beloved sons and daughters of His Father.
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Episode 138: Are We Ready?
October 22nd, 2025 | 6 mins 16 secs
acts xxix, actsxxix, encouragement, faith, fr. john riccardo, hope, inspiration, mission, prayer, reflections, weekly
Memento mori was a common expression in days gone by. It’s Latin for “remember death.” The expression served as a reminder that one real day we will be like those we pray for now. Hopefully, people will be praying for you and me when that day comes.
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Episode 137: What’s Your Divine Data Usage?
October 15th, 2025 | 6 mins 41 secs
acts xxix, actsxxix, encouragement, faith, fr. john riccardo, hope, inspiration, mission, prayer, reflections, weekly
Every Sunday morning, a notice pops up on my phone. It probably does on yours too.“You averaged X hours of screen time a day last week,” it proclaims. Some weeks the amount of time is downright alarming. Imagine, instead, what would happen if a notice popped up that said, “You averaged X hours of time in the Word of God a day last week”? Think our lives would be different — less anxious, calmer, more peaceful, less stressed out and overwhelmed, more hopeful?
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Episode 136: Stand!
October 8th, 2025 | 13 mins 50 secs
acts xxix, actsxxix, encouragement, faith, fr. john riccardo, hope, inspiration, mission, prayer, reflections, weekly
Paul tells us how important it is for us to persevere. What’s more, he reminds us for what exactly we are persevering: so as to reign! In other words, it’s worth it. The Greek word Paul uses could alternatively be translated as remain, endure, don’t be moved off your spot, be patient. Perhaps, most simply, it means to stand.
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Episode 135: Disarming the Spirit of Fear
October 1st, 2025 | 7 mins 17 secs
acts xxix, actsxxix, encouragement, faith, fr. john riccardo, hope, inspiration, mission, prayer, reflections, weekly
The fact that the command, “Do not be afraid” is the most common command in the whole Bible tells me that it must be the thing that I need to hear the most! But though I have the feeling of fear, I do not have to let it control me. This is what John Paul II was constantly saying to the world. And this is what Paul is saying to us this week.