Ave Maria Radio presents Christ is the answer with Father John Ricardo.

He's a priest of the Archdiocese of Detroit and is currently the executive director of a non-profit

organization called Acts 29, which exists to work with pastors on their teams to transform

their parish culture and reclaim the church's missionary identity.

He was ordained in 1996.

This is the beginning of a six-part mission series.

Father John talks about sin, the sin of our time, and he also talks about the movie, The Passion of the Christ.

It's a movie he and the Cardoomita Institute staff saw for the first time back in 2004.

Father John Ricardo begins by reading a passage from the prophet Isaiah.

Yet it was our infirmities that he bore, our sufferings that he endured,

while we thought of him as stricken as one smitten by God and afflicted.

But he was pierced for our offenses, crushed for our sins.

Upon him was the chastisement that makes us whole.

And by his stripes, we were healed.

We had all gone astray like sheep, each following his own way.

But the Lord laid upon him the guilt of us all.

Father in heaven, we pray as we start this grace-filled season of Lent this day.

We pray in great Thanksgiving for all that you have done for us in Jesus,

for the gift of our redemption, for the price that he willingly paid for our sins.

Father, we pray to know your love more fully in these 40 days.

We pray that you would help us to know that love by convicting us and convincing us of sin.

Lord, teach us the truth about sin and especially our own.

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