More than a few of us find ourselves right in situations that just don’t seem to make sense. More than a few of us, with deep faith in God, His goodness and faithfulness, just flat out don’t get what’s going on. The Lord’s ways are not our ways. We cannot often understand why He does what He does.

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On this great feast of the one the Church hails as “the apostle to the apostles”, these are the things I’m praying with, asking the Holy Spirit who dwells in me, and who was there that day, to help me to see and hear.

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I readily admit I have very few original thoughts. Rather, I’ve always found great joy in making others aware of great minds and, even more, great souls. It is a joy for me to pass along to others books, articles and talks I come across that have had a profound impact on my life, in the hopes that they will similarly impact others.

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Parishes aren’t small businesses; they’re the people of God — a family of families. We often say in ACTS XXIX that one of the primary crises we see in the Church is a need to recover what it means to be human. A friend of mine speaks frequently about what he calls “the corporatization” of the Church. What he means is that, for a variety of reasons, we often relate to each other in overly functional and transactional ways. This week, especially for those parishes receiving new spiritual fathers, is a great time to change that.

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Nobody in Paul’s day said or thought that Caesar Augustus loved them and gave himself for them. But Paul said this about Jesus. Nobody in Paul’s day said or thought that the various gods of Rome truly cared for them and loved them. At best the gods were to be appeased by various sacrifices and rituals so as not to incur their wrath. But Paul’s contemporary and friend, John, could write the daring and unheard of words: “God is love” (1 John 4:8).

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When Paul writes that love bears all things he means that love “hides”, or “keeps confidential” certain things about others. George Montague, in his excellent commentary on this letter, offers a more poetic translation: “Love throws a cloak of silence over what is displeasing in another person.” Uh…this isn’t exactly what I do. Far too often, to my shame, I speak about and expose the things that are displeasing in others. And yet, Paul says we are not to do this. Once again, what an extraordinary thing that God doesn’t do this about us — can you imagine?!

Give Jesus Back the Pen | Fr. John Riccardo & Ron Huntley | Huntley Leadership Podcast #224

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I’ve been fortunate to make this pilgrimage several times before, and it is indeed life-changing — or can be, if we will allow the Holy Spirit to guide us. Christians have gone on pilgrimage almost from the very beginning. We do things like this quite simply because God acts in history, in concrete time and space. Visiting and praying in places where He did wonders of old can serve to remind us that He wants to do them now in our time and space.

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What, then, does it mean to say that Jesus “is seated at the right hand of the Father”? Most succinctly, it means He reigns. To profess in the Creed that Jesus is seated right now at the right hand of the Father means that Jesus, the God-man, Lord of the universe, is “in charge.” It means to profess that He holds the world, the Church, history, and each one of us in His hands. This position is rightfully His because by His loving self-offering on the Cross He defeated the powers of Sin, Death and Satan himself who had held the world captive since that dark day in Eden.

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God is not bound by trends. They mean nothing to Him. And thus, while we certainly don’t want to be unaware of them, they should mean more or less nothing to us. The Spirit of God is power. We are not orphans. The mission of the Church is not dependent on our own strength, our own wisdom, or our own initiative. It is the Father’s desire that His creation be rescued and renewed. That’s what Jesus began with His death and resurrection. That’s what the Church continues until that glorious day of the King’s return.

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Support Thoughts from the Trailer with Fr. John Riccardo