ACTS XXIX director's fifth book, ‘The Resistance: God's Plan for Renewing the Human Family,’ was released Sept. 29
PLYMOUTH — Fr. John Riccardo wants everyone to know the extraordinary and personal message of the Gospel: you matter.
“I don’t think people really believe that they matter to God — that He sees them and cares about them, and that He thinks they’re worth fighting and dying for,” said Fr. Riccardo, founder of the Detroit-based apostolate ACTS XXIX. “The Gospel really is that simple and powerful. It’s the Lord himself looking at each person and saying, ‘You matter to me.’”
In his new book, released Sept. 29, "The Resistance: God's Plan for Renewing the Human Family," Fr. Riccardo posits that, as Pope St. John Paul II said in his apostolic exhortation Catechesi Tradendae, the Gospel should overwhelm those who hear it and compel them to entrust every part of their lives to Jesus in faith.
But he doesn’t want people to keep the news to themselves. Fr. Riccardo’s hope is that every person would take the message of Jesus’ love and share it. In the book, he reminds readers that Catholics — and everyone who hears the Gospel — have been sent on mission by God to share it.
“The Gospel really is extraordinary, lifesaving news. Knowing that fact is increasingly urgent in a culture like ours, which is becoming ever more anxious, fearful, polarized and prone to demonize,” Fr. Riccardo said.
Politics is not the answer, he says.
“We’re longing for unity, but we’re becoming overly politicized in our country, which can bleed into the Church and into us as well,” Fr. Riccardo said. “Politics is important, but politics can’t fix this problem. The problem is the human heart, and only God can fix the human heart. He does that through His bride, the Church, and that’s us, broken as we all are.”
Fr. Riccardo says the goal of the book is not to impart knowledge or data; it’s to provide hope and to send the faithful on mission.
“The Church desperately needs to be reminded of her mission,” Fr. Riccardo continued. “It comes directly from The General Instruction of the Roman Missal. The mission is to rescue, renew and transform the human family into the family of God.”
According to a 2025 Pew Research poll, 71% of Catholics do not attend Sunday Mass weekly. Thus, the mission of evangelization falls to the laity as they interact with people in their family, neighborhood, school, place of employment and even the grocery store. Fr. Riccardo implores people to invite others into their home for fellowship and meaningful conversation.
“If I go to an amazing restaurant, I’m going to tell you about it. If I encounter someone who brought hope into a despairing life and defeated the power of death, why wouldn’t I tell you about that?” Fr. Riccardo said. “It’s what a friend of mine calls the art of turning the conversation to higher things.”
Fr. Riccardo dedicated "The Resistance" to his late parents, John and Thelma Riccardo, who invited guests to their home regularly and proudly made their faith known.
“My mom and dad are my heroes,” Fr. Riccardo said. “They were fun, normal people who clearly shaped their lives to revolve around Jesus, and everybody knew it. They had an ability to talk about the Lord in non-threatening ways, and they prayed in a way that was incredibly attractive to people.”
“The mission to which God is awakening us is to stop living in our little holy huddles and get out to do the work of evangelization,” Fr. Riccardo said. “Say a prayer and ask the Lord, ‘Who are the people in my life you want me to invite to my home?'”
Fostering a personal relationship in this way creates space to share the incredible story of the Gospel when the time is right, he says. For those who prefer to start with “training wheels,” he advises watching a video together. The Rescue Project, a ministry of ACTS XXIX, is a great way to spark discussion, he said.
“The whole point of the book is to provide the vision for what the Church is supposed to be about, which flows from the mission of Jesus, which is to gather all the children of God back into His family,” Fr. Riccardo said. “How do we do that as a Church? We preach the Gospel and call others into allegiance to Him. We don’t exist for our own sake; we exist for a mission to rescue, renew and transform.”
"The Resistance: God's Plan for Renewing the Human Family" is available for purchase on Lorraine Cross Media and Amazon.
