The One To Whom We Pray
September 30, 2026
Fr. John Riccardo
Brothers and sisters: Have no anxiety at all, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, make your requests known to God. Then the peace of God that surpasses all understanding will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus.
Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is gracious, if there is any excellence and if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things. Keep on doing what you have learned and received and heard and seen in me. Then the God of peace will be with you (Phil 4:6-9).
No anxiety at all. None. Zip. Zilch. Zero.
Paul is in chains when he writes this. Imprisoned by the Empire that rules the known world. He does not know if he’s going to live or if he’s going to die. In fact, he found himself in prison when he went to Philippi the very first time, a few years before perhaps. That first visit to the Roman colony saw him apprehended, beaten with rods, and thrown into “the inner jail.” Suffice to say, that would not have been a place one would have wanted to be in the 1st century. Or any other, for that matter.
And yet.
To them, too, he writes, “Have no anxiety at all.”
Why?
Perhaps the key is found in what comes next. “In everything … make your needs known to God.” And who is God? God is a good Father. He’s faithful. He keeps His promises. He is love. He has rescued the world from the tyrannical grip of the enemy, and by His Son has defeated the powers of Death and Sin. This is the one to whom we pray when we pray.
This isn’t to say that He gives us what we want every time we pray. God is a good Father, not a genie. He’s not there to do our will; we’re here to do His. His ways are not our ways, nor are His thoughts our thoughts. Those ways and thoughts of His are often confusing and puzzling. At least they are to me.
And yet. God is a good Father. He knows what He is doing. He has a plan. And we can trust Him. No matter what. In every circumstance, high or low, good or bad, He offers grace, that is, supernatural strength, for that particular moment. We can bank on that. Let us ask our dear brother, Paul, who endured more beatings, imprisonments, and bodily afflictions than most of us can even imagine, to pray for us that we may know ever better the One He knew. And knows even more fully now. So that the peace that passes all understanding may be ours wherever we find ourselves at this moment.
ACTS XXIX Prayer Intentions
September 2026
In gratitude for the release of Fr. John’s new book, The Resistance: God’s Plan for Renewing the Human Family, that the Lord would use it to awaken hearts to the reality of the mission entrusted to the Church and that readers would be equipped to live out this mission with ever greater freedom, hope and courage.
For the planning and preparation of the Jesus Conference, that the Holy Spirit would pour out a fresh anointing upon all who are planning, serving, and attending, so that Jesus would be encountered, known, and loved anew and that we would be mobilized for mission.
For the more than 200 religious communities who faithfully intercede for ACTS XXIX, that the Lord would richly bless and reward them for their hidden and generous prayer, and grant them renewed joy and fruitfulness in their own vocations.