As we eavesdrop on Paul teaching Philemon this week, he’s teaching us too. The world is still divided between “us” and “them” — just read the news. The call on the disciple of Jesus is still to announce the good news that the entire human race has been rescued from the powers of Sin and Death, and the subsequent enslaving forces of division, hatred and more. But not just to announce it. To put the power of the Gospel into effect in every dimension of human life, to act like leaven so as to make the world ever more authentically human.

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Special Guest: Albert Faraj.

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The most unjust, horrific, hideous act in human history took place on Calvary some two thousand years ago now. There, on that hill, the God who is Love, gave Himself into the hands of the creature He had fashioned out of love for friendship, and was torn to shreds, quite literally. Why? So that we might be rescued from the clutches of the powers of Sin and Death, into whose grip we had fallen as a result of fateful decisions just before Abel’s murder. 

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Support Thoughts from the Trailer with Fr. John Riccardo

So God — God! — came to our rescue. Personally. He didn’t wave a magic wand. He didn’t send an angel. He came Himself. As a man. And the rescue happened by His going to the cross, a most shameful, humiliating and painful way to die. What looked like a defeat was in fact a victory, because Jesus on the cross isn’t just a victim, He’s the aggressor; He’s not just hunted, He’s hunting. Our enemy. And the resurrection on Easter Sunday is the announcement that Good Friday was a victory.

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Special Guest: Albert Faraj.

Support Thoughts from the Trailer with Fr. John Riccardo

There’s a reason why teams want to play their big games at home. Tens of thousands of cheering fans, often whipped up into a frenzy by anything from cheer leaders to yell leaders, somehow inspire and perhaps even enable highly skilled athletes to do things that they could never do otherwise. Accordingly, the home crowd is often referred to as “the 12th man” in football.

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Support Thoughts from the Trailer with Fr. John Riccardo

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Support Thoughts from the Trailer with Fr. John Riccardo

Our speech can be immensely damaging to others, and in our modern society we are exposed almost constantly to harsh, slanderous, malicious, and obscene speech. As disciples of Jesus, the way we talk and write is supposed to stand out, to be different, to be noticed by not sounding like the world at large. In doing so, we can help the world become more genuinely human..

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Support Thoughts from the Trailer with Fr. John Riccardo

I’ve always found analogies wonderfully helpful. I have a simple mind, and I have always appreciated teachers who had the gift of breaking complex topics down in such a way that they become more understandable and digestible. God, of course, is the greatest Teacher. There’s a reason why most of Scripture in general, and especially most of Jesus’ teaching in particular, is story telling: we easily remember stories. Analogies, like stories, tend to leave lasting imprints in our minds.

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Support Thoughts from the Trailer with Fr. John Riccardo

Pope Pius XII preached in his homily that parents can learn from Maria’s life to train their children such that when put to the test they will come through “undefeated, unscathed and untarnished.” What a triad! As I lingered with this thought, the Holy Spirit led me to remember the speech by Theodore Roosevelt entitled, “The Man in the Arena.” He further held in front of me how fiercely competitive I can tend to be, especially in sports, and certainly when I was young. Putting these together, the Lord has given me a new image that has been very helpful in my morning prayer and perhaps will stay with me for quite some time.

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Support Thoughts from the Trailer with Fr. John Riccardo

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.

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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.

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Support Thoughts from the Trailer with Fr. John Riccardo