The Father Who Takes the First Step
April 29, 2026
Fr. John Riccardo
No one comes to the Father except through me. If you know me, then you will also know my Father. From now on you do know him and have seen him. Philip said to him, “Master, show us the Father, and that will be enough for us.” Jesus said to him, “Have I been with you for so long a time and you still do not know me, Philip? Whoever has seen me has seen the Father. How can you say, ‘Show us the Father’? Do you not believe that I am in the Father and the Father is in me? The words that I speak to you I do not speak on my own. The Father who dwells in me is doing his works. Believe me that I am in the Father and the Father is in me, or else believe because of the works themselves” (John 14:6-11).
I recently came across a line from G.K. Chesterton that I can’t get out of my mind. He said, “It is our perennial psychological and spiritual task to look at things that are familiar until they become unfamiliar again.” How true that is for me, I know! I often share with my brother priests that as I get older I find myself more and more empathetic with the Pharisees in the Gospels. By that I mean that there is a great danger in being “professionally religious.” As priests, we talk about the wonders God has done for us daily. We stand at the altar daily. We handle the Body and Blood of the God-man who defeated Sin, Death and hell, daily. This is what we do, and it can, tragically, become way too familiar to us. To me at least. The great and soon to be beatified Fulton Sheen once said to priests, “Brothers, never get used to handling the Body and Blood of Jesus!” I for one am guilty of that.
But whether we’re ordained or not, I think many of us get used to the mysteries of faith. Things that should stun us often no longer do. Realities that should cause us to fall to our knees in wonder and awe become familiar and routine. Nothing is worse than getting used to the magnificent.
This coming Sunday we are going to hear these all too familiar words of Jesus to Philip: “Whoever has seen me has seen the Father.” I wonder: do we even remotely grasp what Jesus is saying to us?
Last week, the NFL draft took place. Millions of people tune in and watch…nothing really. Just names being called, all in the hopes that next year will be better. Selections are made based on a variety of factors, including game film of the various players. In the spiritual battle, Scripture also offers us something like “game film” on our opponent, the devil and his minions. Though he has a number of strategies, his primary one is deception. More specifically, it is a deception about God. He tries to deceive us into thinking that God is not a good Father, that we can’t trust Him, and that we could be happier apart from Him. This deception is what led to our first parents tragically turning away from God back at the beginning of our race, thereby selling us all into slavery to Sin and Death.
Among the many missions of Jesus is the definitive response to this lie. In listening to Jesus, in watching Him interact with people, and above all in His freely laying down His life for each one of us on the cross, the enemy is exposed as a deceiver and God is revealed to be a good Father, whom we can trust. Jesus repeats in many ways that He only does what He sees the Father do, and only says what He hears the Father say. Over 180 times He speaks explicitly of His Father in the Gospels. The Father is the Lord’s “one homily.”
A few weeks ago we celebrated the Feast of Divine Mercy. Most of us I’m sure are very familiar with the well known image that Jesus instructed St. Faustina to have painted. The risen Lord is standing, radiant with life and love, blood and water flowing out His pierced side. Actually, He’s not standing. He’s moving. His left knee is slightly bent and his left foot is going forward.
This is no small detail to ponder. God — God! — always takes the first step towards us. The Creator of the universe, infinitely happy, in need of nothing, desires us, longs for us, wants us, offers us friendship with Himself, abundant life, re-creation and so much more. Despite how many times, how very many times, we have turned away from Him, ignored Him, preferred our own desires to Him, He always welcomes home.
Let us ask the Lord this week to help us see and know in an ever deeper way the Father’s love, His mercy, His kindness and His delight in each of us.
ACTS XXIX Prayer Intentions
April 2026
For the Church, rejoicing in the victory of Jesus over sin, death, hell and Satan, that she may be renewed in hope, bold and prophetic in witness, and radiant with the joy of the Resurrection.
For priests going through moments of crisis in their vocation, that they may find accompaniment and that communities may support them with understanding and prayer.
For our time with the presbyterate in the Diocese of Gaylord, that the Holy Spirit would guide our ministry with them, deepen their unity as brothers, and reconfigure us ever more fully to the heart of Jesus for mission.
For our Board of Directors meeting, that the Lord would grant wisdom and clarity so that every decision made may serve His purposes and advance the Kingdom of God.
For all of our planning efforts around The Jesus Conference, that the Lord would go before us, preparing the hearts of those who will gather, and that this event would bear lasting fruit for the renewal and mobilization of the Church.
For our Episcopal Advisory Council, Board of Directors, partners, and all those who faithfully pray for us, that they may be strengthened by the gratitude and communion we share in the family of God.