Fr. Andrew Ricci, priest of the Diocese of Superior and rector of the Cathedral of Christ the King, is pictured before the Pantocrator, which is the logo for his podcast, “Catholic Inspiration,” which has been broadcasting for 10 years in December. (Submitted photo)
Jenny Snarski
Catholic Herald staff
Public speaking comes naturally for Fr. Andrew Ricci, who grew up in Cumberland participating in forensics and giving speeches for organizations he was part of. It’s no surprise preaching is one of the favorite elements of his priestly ministry.
As the Cathedral’s rector celebrates the 10-year anniversary of his popular podcast, “Catholic Inspiration,” he shared with the Catholic Herald that “the being of your vocation is not the doing.” Fr. Ricci said this is why it’s important to cultivate a prayer life and healthy interests, because “any of us can get lost in doing the work and miss the being of our vocation.”
Ordained in 1997, the diocesan priest was first assigned to serve in Superior’s Cathedral parish. Before returning as the Cathedral’s rector, Fr. Ricci served the clustered parishes in Spooner, Shell Lake and Sarona from 1999-2009. During that time, he started having parishioners ask about the possibility of accessing his homily when they were traveling, which led to the start of his studypraysesrve.com. He would take the column he wrote for the weekly church bulletin and turn that into a WordPress blog. As “the great things,” he wanted to integrate the intellectual, spiritual and service components of living the faith.
With the expansion of the internet and rapid changes in technology, what would have cost thousands of dollars to set up became possible as “podcasters can now be radio stations” of sorts. And with a phone camera, “now you have a TV station,” Fr. Ricci added. The ministry costs less than 500 dollars a year, which he pays for himself and invests an average of one hour to produce each podcast.
Once the pandemic hit in March 2020, Fr. Ricci said, “Covid took the infrastructure that had been built and put it on nitrous oxide and fueled it.”
Since the Dec.11, 2014, inception date for the Catholic Inspiration podcast, there have been almost 9 million total downloads with more than 3400 episodes as of Nov. 12. Fr. Ricci’s preaching has been heard in approximately 150 countries and averages 3300 daily downloads. Most of the countries where his listeners reside are English-speakers but he’s intrigued by outliers like a listener in Bahrain. Within the U.S., listeners in Wisconsin and Minnesota are topped by even higher numbers in California and Texas.
The podcast’s title, “Catholic Inspiration,” Fr. Ricci described as “white bread” in one sense, but it sums up his goal of being clearly Catholic and clearly an inspiration for people in their spiritual growth.
“It’s very heartwarming” to receive emails, letters and cards on a weekly basis from listeners sharing their gratitude, Fr. Ricci commented, noting that during the height of the pandemic, it was particularly intense.
His focus for preaching remains the “every person” in his congregation at daily and Sunday Masses. “When you preach in a congregation that’s mixed, you’re always trying to hit as close to the center with your illustrations and images.” Fr. Ricci is attentive to ensuring that over a month he’s engaging with everyone from the young children to the older adults, making both married and single people feel address and even connecting with the teens who are at church because their parents bring them.
Noting that his personal spirituality is lectio divina, Fr. Ricci explained that he preaches to pray and prays to preach. The cycle of liturgical readings provide the backbone for what is now a program of preaching salvation history as the podcast has evolved from a broadcast of his daily homily to a more structured plan of spiritual enrichment based on the daily mass readings.
“It’s really allowed me to go deep into the lectionary and its structure,” Fr. Ricci said. “It’s forced me to up my game as a preacher,” especially since listening to the recordings he hears his own idiosyncrasies and where his preaching could be tightened and honed.
Fr. Ricci recognized that every priest has different ministries they really love, from hearing confessions to mingling with the variety of people in a parish, working with school children or accompanying the sick. “Name your interest,” and a priest can press into what he’s naturally gifted at, but, he added, “part of our vows is to preach the Gospel.” He is particularly grateful for his love of reflecting on the Word of God and ability to share that with others while he’s enriching his own spirituality.
For as much as he loves his preaching ministry, Fr. Ricci clarified that it is not meant at all to be about him or seeking notoriety. He shared, “for the record,” his prayer before preaching or recording a podcase episode.
“Lord Jesus Christ, May the words I say be the words they need to hear for you must increase and I must decrease.” He added firmly, “This is not the Father Andrew show” and said that’s the reason his picture is not on the podcast. Rather, the logo is the Pantocrator image from the Cathedral that depicts Jesus Christ as the almighty ruler.
“All of this is meant to drive people to Jesus,” he said. “I gotta get out of the way,” Fr. Ricci share.
Answering the question of how he tries to address listeners who might prefer his preaching style to that of their home parish priests, Fr. Ricci stated that many listeners turn to his podcast as a supplement to their participation in and preparation for mass. It becomes a “little vitamin,” but never something to replace mass even with the large increase in numbers tuning in to his livestreamed masses during Covid-19.
As restrictions for attending mass in person, Fr. Ricci recalled that they repeatedly invited and encouraged people to go back to mass to receive the Blessed Sacrament. He is intentional about still including that invitation periodically because we are called as a faith community to worship together.
Watching versus attending mass he compared to “the same as calling Grandma or going to Grandma’s house and actually giving her a hug. It all I get is a call, I’ll call, but I’d rather hug Grandma.”
He continues to put into practice what he learned at seminary about audience analysis and creating a “panel of diversity” to ensure that primary preaching points and illustrations are connecting with an evolving palette of listeners, whether at mass in person or on the podcast. Even so, a really good illustration doesn’t directly relate to one sector of his listeners, will still help them connect the dots with the main ideas shared.
Fr. Ricci added that the data shows a different group of listeners download the podcast as its released in the morning than those who listen later in the afternoon as well as another group who accesses via the livestream videos. As he moved into YouTube podcasts earlier this year he shared that the video platform’s market share in podcasts is even higher than Apple podcasts or Spotify.
“You might as well put a target on your back because now you’re out in a very different universe… You’ve put yourself in “Caesar’s palace” and have to continue forward even though you know not everyone wants to hear what you have to say. He doesn’t engage with negative or derogatory comments saying that he just keeps sharing the Gospel and trusts that God knows where to sow seeds of faith.
He does preach often on receiving the sacraments, especially of the Eucharist and confession, and has received notes about people coming back to the Church through his podcast.
In the context of sharing the faith, Fr. Ricci understands that not everyone is moved by the same things but added that in this time of the Diocese of Superior’s move “from maintenance to mission” the general culture doesn’t sustain that. As for where and how the faith is revealed, he said that “we don’t come with one tool on the belt, we come with hundreds” given the variety of people.
From his podcast and website, he encourages those wanting “fifty cent words” and more intellectual reflections to reference Bishop Robert Barron’s homilies. He finds most young people resonate with Fr. Mike Schmitz’s style because, “if coffee needs a pick-me-up, it listens to Fr. Mike.”
Fr. Ricci acknowledged the necessity of the Church’s variety of spiritualities and charisms. “God is so personal,” he said. “So vast and mystical and more… The minute we think we’ve got God in a box, we’re in deep trouble.
“When we do our part in the vineyard of the task the Lord has set before us,” Fr. Ricci concluded, “That’s where we realize that we get use our gifts… but have to always be open to being stretched as well.”
To listen to Fr. Andrew Ricci’s “Catholic Inspiration” podcast, search for it by that title on any podcast hosting service, or you can sign up at studyprayserve.com for the recording to be directly emailed in addition to finding it on Facebook at facebook.com/Fr.AndrewRicci.
