The Poco a Poco Podcast with the Franciscan Friars of the Renewal

Episode 140 - I Know Him Mary wants the Holy Spirit to come to our life, as the Holy Spirit came for her. When we're struggling, when we don't understand, when we're having deep desires and longings of our hearts, the Holy Spirit will come. God is good, God will send and He will give us everything, we just need to have the openness to received Him and say Yes. We might not know the answers, but we know Him. In the unknown, let's rely on our relationship with Him. That's what's Advent is about and that's where we want to be. This episode is the fourth and last part of the series on Emmanuel: An Advent Devotional that talks about the Annunciation and an invitaion to say Yes to the grace of the Holy Spirit as Mary did—not just a one time 'Yes' but an ongoing, abiding and persevering Yes. ✝️ If you want to follow along with our upcoming advent series, you can get your copy of Emmanuel: An Advent Devotional (by Fr. Angelus Montgomery, CFR, and Sr. Karolyn Nunes, FSGM,) at https://ydisciple.shop/products/emmanuel 🛒 You can also grab your Poco a Poco Merchandise at pocomerch.com! The Poco a Poco podcast happens because of many generous donors, including recurring monthly donations of any amount. Thinking about helping out? You can give at https://spiritjuice.org/supportpoco. Thank you!

Episode 139 - Peace not Panic We have this tendency that we want to fix or clean-up certain things first before we let the Lord in. We are afraid that our place, our lives are messy—that it can be too much for anyone even for God to handle. But God is NOT panicking, he's completely in control. He's not afraid or scandalized of how messy our lives are, he actually comes for the mess. He isn't waiting for us to get it together, he wants to come and the way we get things together is by Him coming to our lives, we just have to let him in. This episode is the third part of the series on Emmanuel: An Advent Devotional that talks about how we can ask the Lord to take our panic and give His us peace. An invitation for us to let God in to our lives regardless of the mess. ✝️ If you want to follow along with our upcoming advent series, you can get your copy of Emmanuel: An Advent Devotional (by Fr. Angelus Montgomery, CFR, and Sr. Karolyn Nunes, FSGM,) at https://ydisciple.shop/products/emmanuel 🛒 You can also grab your Poco a Poco Merchandise at pocomerch.com!

Episode 138 - Don't Fumble the Bag The gift of Advent is God proposing himself to us. He comes not just to command us to do something and watch from a far. He comes to sing with us, dance with us, BE with us. With that said, it would be tragic if the Lord comes knocking in our door and we don't open it—that we miss Emmanuel, God with us. Let us receive him and respond to him in the proper way during this Advent. This episode is the second part of the series on Emmanuel: An Advent Devotional, which talks about how we can have the hearts to be open and available to receive God—to keep our focus on the gift of Emmanuel above and beyond everything else. It is also an invitation to ask Mary to teach us the purity of heart that she had, to see God as she did. ✝️If you want to follow along with our upcoming advent series, you can get your copy of Emmanuel: An Advent Devotional (by Fr. Angelus Montgomery, CFR, and Sr. Karolyn Nunes, FSGM,) at https://ydisciple.shop/products/emmanuel 🛒You can also grab your Poco a Poco Merchandise at pocomerch.com!

Episode 137 - Gentle But Uncompromising Sometimes we lose hope, wondering, does He really want to come and be with us in our sickness, addiction, our family brokenness, our difficulty, our struggles, or anxieties? Advent is a time that God speaks a definitive word into our exiles, "Yes, I do"—He comes and desires to be with us. This episode is the first part of the series on Emmanuel: An Advent Devotional which talks about what Advent is all about. A reminder that God is pursuing us and that in our brokenness, He comes to be with us. If you want to follow along with our current advent series, you can get your copy of Emmanuel: An Advent Devotional (by Fr. Angelus Montgomery, CFR, and Sr. Karolyn Nunes, FSGM,) at https://ydisciple.shop/products/emmanuel The Poco a Poco podcast happens because of many generous donors, including recurring monthly donations of any amount. Thinking about helping out? You can give at https://spiritjuice.org/supportpoco. Thank you! You can also grab your Poco a Poco Merchandise at pocomerch.com

Episode 136 - Step One Jesus not only loves us—He thirsts for us. Why does He say "I thirst"? What does it mean? It's something so hard to explain in words. I thirst is something much deeper than Jesus just saying, "I love you". Mother Teresa tells us how much love Jesus has for each of us—beyond all that we can imagine. In her words "Not only He loves you, even more, He longs for you. He misses you when you don't come close. He thirsts for you. He loves you always, even when you don't feel worthy" This fourth and last part of this series talks about Jesus's experience of us and our first step to begin to know who He wants to be for us, or who Jesus wants us to be for Him. The Poco a Poco podcast happens because of many generous donors, including recurring monthly donations of any amount. Thinking about helping out? You can give at https://spiritjuice.org/supportpoco. Thank you! You can also grab your Poco a Poco Merchandise at pocomerch.com

Episode 135 - Little But Infinite Sometimes, we may feel that we are only able do the little things—that what we do is insignificant. Things may seem so small, but in reality no matter how little or insignificant something may seem, nothing is little. It's because God makes them and because He makes them, they are great and infinite in value. The Saints, like Mother Teresa did amazing things, but they were faithful to the little things and through that God did the huge things in their lives. Even Jesus himself came to us small, hidden and lowly and not in the most grand way. This third part of the series on Mother Teresa reminds us that everything is an opportunity to be holy when we allow God to enter into it. A reminder that if we are faithful, even the little things matter. The Poco a Poco podcast happens because of many generous donors, including recurring monthly donations of any amount. Thinking about helping out? You can give at https://spiritjuice.org/supportpoco. Thank you! If you want to follow along with our upcoming advent series, you can get your copy of Emmanuel: An Advent Devotional (by Fr. Angelus Montgomery, CFR, and Sr. Karolyn Nunes, FSGM,) at https://ydisciple.shop/products/emmanuel You can also grab your Poco a Poco Merchandise at pocomerch.com.

Episode 134 - The Ecstasy Episode Could you imagine being woken up in the middle of the night because of a great desire to be with someone? For Mother Teresa, it was her desire to be with Jesus. She had a deep, supernatural union with God that gave her the experience of divinely-inspired thirst for Him. A living relationship with Jesus that brings her to this mystical state of ecstasy. This episode is the second part of the new series on Mother Teresa that talks about the beauty of the relationship Mother Teresa had with Jesus, and how it relates to all of us. It is also an invitation for us to recognize this desire that Mother Teresa had and the desire that God has for her and for all of us. The Poco a Poco podcast happens because of many generous donors, including recurring monthly donations of any amount. Thinking about helping out? You can give at https://spiritjuice.org/supportpoco. Thank you!

Episode 133 - Our Holy Aunt As we mentioned on our previous episode, we need to be in this place where we are able to both worship and adore Jesus and at the same time be in relationship with Him and our neighbor with compassion and warmth. This episode talks about an exceptional example of that-Mother Teresa of Calcutta. A person who embodied and lived the fullness of the gospel life and who was such a great steward of the grace the she received that it influenced millions of people in a very good way. A saint who gave us a glimpse of who Jesus is and how He loves us. This is the first part of the new series on Mother Teresa wherein the CFRs shares a little bit about their experience of Mother Teresa and what it meant to them. The Poco a Poco podcast happens because of many generous donors, including recurring monthly donations of any amount. Thinking about helping out? You can give at https://spiritjuice.org/supportpoco. Thank you!

Episode 132 - Worship and Warmth In our faith we sometimes find ourselves in the extremes. We become either strict and liturgical or warm and casual but the truth is our faith should not be "either, or" but "both, and". We need to be in this place where we are able to both worship and adore the Lord and at the same time be in relationship with Him and our neighbor with compassion and warmth. When that becomes our reality, we can make a difference—that's why it's important for us to discern where we are in this mix. This episode talks about, how we can assess where we are in this regard and how we can integrate worship and warmth to our faith and our relationship with Jesus. The Poco a Poco podcast happens because of many generous donors, including recurring monthly donations of any amount. Thinking about helping out? You can give at https://spiritjuice.org/supportpoco. Thank you!

Episode 131 - We Speak Praise We allow our hearts to agree with the truth of who God is—that's what adoration means. And as we become more familiar with the truth of who God is through adoration, we start to see more clearly who God is to us and what is given to us by Him. Everything that we have is a gift from God and for most of us this is an overwhelming truth where Praise is the only just response. This episode is the sixth and last part on the series on Hungry For God by Dr. Ralph Martin which talks about what praise is and its' importance. The Poco a Poco podcast happens because of many generous donors, including recurring monthly donations of any amount. Thinking about helping out? You can give at https://spiritjuice.org/supportpoco. Thank you!