Fr. John Riccardo's Podcasts

During the 2011-2012 instructional season, several Rite of Christian Initiation of Adults (RCIA) sessions at Our Lady of Good Counsel Church were recorded by Mr. Henry Root of Revelant Redundancy Recordings.  These recordings will be published here for archival and educational purposes.

During the 2011-2012 instructional season, several Rite of Christian Initiation of Adults (RCIA) sessions at Our Lady of Good Counsel Church were recorded by Mr. Henry Root of Revelant Redundancy Recordings.  These recordings will be published here for archival and educational purposes.

During the 2011-2012 instructional season, several Rite of Christian Initiation of Adults (RCIA) sessions at Our Lady of Good Counsel Church were recorded by Mr. Henry Root of Revelant Redundancy Recordings.  These recordings will be published here for archival and educational purposes.

During the 2011-2012 instructional season, several Rite of Christian Initiation of Adults (RCIA) sessions at Our Lady of Good Counsel Church were recorded by Mr. Henry Root of Revelant Redundancy Recordings.  These recordings will be published here for archival and educational purposes.

On November 30th, Our Lady of Good Counsel hosted a town hall meeting to present plans for an expansion project at the church.  This podcast contains the audio recorded at that event.  The podcast is approximately 1:43 minutes in length.  A question and answer session starts at about the 1:17 mark in the timeline.

Fr. Riccardo discusses death in this homily for the first Sunday of Advent. Fr. John is focusing his homilies for the Advent season on the Catholic Church's  teachings on the last things: death, judgment, heaven, hell and purgatory.

This year the Church celebrates the Year of Faith, giving us the opportunity to answer the question Jesus asks each of us, “Who do you say that I am?” Fr. Riccardo concludes the three-part series on Vatican II with this talk from November 28th titled What About Them: Are They Going to Heaven Too?. The handouts from this session are available here.

On November 20th, Fr. Riccardo presided at a memorial Mass for parents who have experienced the painful loss of a young child through miscarriage, stillbirth, or other traumatic events.  This is a podcast of the audio from that Mass with minimal edits.  It is presented here in an effort to offer consolation to parents everywhere who have experienced such a loss, with our prayer that Our Lady of Good Counsel will comfort you in your sorrow.  The parish community thanks vocalist Matt Greenough and our music directory, Matthew Samelak, for their assistance with this liturgy.

Fr. Riccardo reflects on judgment day in this homily from the 10 AM Mass at Our Lady of Good Counsel Church.

This year the Church celebrates the Year of Faith, giving us the opportunity to answer the question Jesus asks each of us, “Who do you say that I am?” Fr. Steve Mateja discusses the November election with this talk on Where Do We Go From Here as a People of God?

While reflecting on the gospel reading from St. Mark (Mk 12:28b-34), Fr. Riccardo reminds the congregation that every Sunday is a holy day of obligation.  Fr. John  encourages the congregation to come to Mass ready to engage the Lord with a disposition that wants to be in communion with God and ready to hear His word to us.

This year the Church celebrates the Year of Faith, giving us the opportunity to answer the question Jesus asks each of us, “Who do you say that I am?” Fr. Riccardo continues the three-part Series on Prayer with this talk from October 24th. The handouts from this session are available here.

Fr. Riccardo discusses the state of the parish in this homily from the 4 PM Mass at Our Lady of Good Counsel Church.

This year the Church celebrates the Year of Faith, giving us the opportunity to answer the question Jesus asks each of us, “Who do you say that I am?” Fr. Riccardo continues the three-part Series on Prayer with this talk from October 10th. A list of Fr. John's questions for reflection from this presentation may be downloaded here.

Fr. Riccardo introduces and welcomes Monsignor John Baptist Ssebayigga from our sister parish of St. Kizito in Kampala, Uganda. Monsignor John discusses the parish of St. Kizito and the history of the relationship between St. Kizito and Our Lady of Good Counsel. The parish community of Our Lady of Good Counsel extends a warm welcome to Monsignor John on the occasion of his visit.

This year the Church celebrates the Year of Faith, giving us the opportunity to answer the question Jesus asks each of us, “Who do you say that I am?” Fr. Riccardo begins a three-part Series on Prayer with this talk from October 3rd. The handouts from this session are available here.

While reflecting on the gospel reading from St. Mark (Mk 9:38-43, 45, 47-48), Fr. Riccardo reminds the congregation that, "The key to a great life is to have great habits." Fr. John asks the congregants to consider whether they are using God's great gift of their senses in the way He intended.

This year the Church celebrates the Year of Faith, giving us the opportunity to answer the question Jesus asks each of us, “Who do you say that I am?” In essence this is the question of faith. Answering this requires taking an in-depth look at what we believe about God, the Church and her teachings. This is the audio from Fr. Riccardo's opening introductory session which lays the foundation for the events planned at Our Lady of Good Counsel. The video clip that was viewed at the beginning of the talk may be found on YouTube. Fr. John's handouts for this session are available here.

While reflecting on the readings of this day (Wis 2:12, 17-20; Jas 3:16-4:3; and Mk 9:30-37) and on his personal life experiences, Fr. Riccardo reminds the congregation that Christian life is about establishing great habits.  Fr. John encourages the congregants to pray daily, to read God's word, and to be faithful to the sacraments.  Fr. John also recommends a nightly examination of conscience.

While considering the readings for this day (Is 35:4-7a, Jas 2:1-5, and Mk 7:31-37), Fr. Riccardo reminds the congregation to keep their eyes on God. Fr. John encourages each congregant to spend time in prayer this week with the reading from Isaiah while looking at the cross of Christ.