Driving back to Ann Arbor that day, tears streamed down Father Riccardo’s face—what did Jesus want of his life? As he cried, the words to a Christian song, “God's Own Fool” played on his car stereo. ‘...So come lose your life for a carpenter's son, for a madman who died for a dream. And you'll have the faith his first followers had and you'll feel the weight of the beam.’
“At that very moment, I had an actual vision of our Lord in my car,” Father Riccardo said. “He sat next to me. It was clear that it was Him. I was still crying. He reached across the seat and dug his right hand into my chest and said, ‘John these are all your dreams, goals, and desires and everything you want to do with your life.’ He withdrew HE motioned throwing it all out the window.
“I said, ‘Lord, that's my life you just threw out the window.’ Jesus then said, ‘John, I'm going to give you my dream, my goal, my desire and what I want you to do with your life.’ And then He was gone. I felt panicked. This was so personal.”