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

Episode 120 - No More Self-Protection The brokenness that is present in our culture deforms us. We have been taught a certain way of living that somehow cultivated the sins of self-reliance, self-protection, fear and insecurities. Because we're afraid of being weak or being poor and failing, we put up walls and put on armors to protect ourselves from being hurt—this in turn makes us live with a high level of anxiety. It doesn't have to be that way. We can be reformed and refashioned but we need to do that with the Lord and this episode provide some amazing insights and talks about how we go about doing that. 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 - 119 Rethink Growth One might often think that growth is gonna happen in a particular way that we usually perceive as a huge experience or something flashy, but growth might actually look different. What does the Lord want to teach us and how does He teach us these things? We don't grow by having everything altogether all the time. We also cannot expect to grow while staying self-protected in our comfort zones. Instead it's when we actually experience poverty. In reality we can be uncomfortable from the challenges of our lives and realize that this is what we need to help ourselves to grow in love and in holiness. This episode looks back on how most of us perceive, encounter and experience growth. An invitation for us to reflect on what does it really mean and how can we make it happen. 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 118 - Learning To Be Loved There is the undeniable temptation to achieve and perform in order prove that we are good enough. But, it shouldn't be all about that. We are gifts to the Lord not because of our perfection but only because of who we are. We can get caught up in the little things that we do and detach them from the overall goal. It's not just about being perfect on all virtue, discipline or devotions—it should all be geared towards Love. The love of God and growing in love with him, that's the ultimate goal. This is a supplementary episode to close the series on The Practice of the Presence of God, that talks about experiencing love, learning to be and being loved and from that being able to love. You can find the Presence of God challenge in the Hallow App or this link https://app.hallow.com/challenges/51, where you can join in and reflect with Fr. Mark-Mary on The Practice of the Presence of God by Brother Lawrence. 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 117 - Finding Peace in Chaos, Series on The Practice of the Presence of God (Part 4 of 4) There's a lot happening in the world we live in, and nothing much we can do about it. During this difficult time we need to pay attention to the Lord—to be immersed in the mystery of God, his goodness and his mercy. It's good to understand what is and what's not in our circle of influence even though it might be in our own country, group, family or even in our own life. Let's discern with the Lord, what's His and whats ours to deal with together. The beauty and grace of it is that we have the freedom to surrender all the things we cannot control, and bring it God. Let's not fall to the pattern of distraction, discouragement, despair. We need to find a way to encounter the light to push back the darkness. There's hope to find peace amidst chaos. You can find the Presence of God challenge in the Hallow App or this link https://app.hallow.com/challenges/51, where you can join in and reflect with Fr. Mark-Mary on The Practice of the Presence of God by Brother Lawrence. 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 116 - Give It To God, Series on The Practice of the Presence of God (Part 3 of 4) We can't do anything more to earn God's love, we have it already! We can be weak, we can be poor, and we can be sinners—and that's okay. We can bring all that to the Lord and that's where we start. Jesus doesn't want us to give him the good things alone, but the bad things as well. What the Lord wants is for us to invite Him in that space for Him to be with us on that. What we need to do is to surrender every bit of who we are, surrender our desires to control and give it all to God. This episode talks more about some great points in the practice of presence of God. An invitation to reflect back on who we are, understand or accept our weaknesses and sins. While at the same time, recognize who God is as we surrender everything to Him. You can find the Presence of God challenge in the Hallow App or this link https://app.hallow.com/challenges/51, where you can join in and reflect with Fr. Mark-Mary on The Practice of the Presence of God by Brother Lawrence. 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 115 - Prayer: Pure and Simple, Series on The Practice of the Presence of God (Part 2 of 4) What does a good prayer look like? We don't know.. Everyone has the freedom on how they pray. But thinking about God, reading a book about God and just saying words about God is not praying. Praying is the relationship that brings us in to a conscious living contact with God himself. Everything is at the service of relationship with Him. There's a real person looking back at us in prayer—who loves us and wants to draw us close to his sacred heart. Jesus wants to meet us in that contemplative space and experience his heart there. In relation to Brother Lawrence's Book, this episode talks through some amazing insights on the relational aspect of prayer as well as some logic and application of prayer. An invitation for us to re-evaluate our prayer life which is meant to put us in relationship with God. You can find the Presence of God challenge in the Hallow App or this link https://app.hallow.com/challenges/51, where you can join in and reflect with Fr. Mark-Mary on The Practice of the Presence of God by Brother Lawrence. 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 114 - Unceasing Prayer, Series on The Practice of the Presence of God (Part 1 of 4) With the abundance of noise in our world, there can be a lot of interruptions to our ongoing conversation and relationship with the God. The habitual, silent and secret conversation we all dream to have with God, all seems to be very difficult to achieve. There's going to be a cost, sacrifice and perseverance. We need to drive away from our minds everything that is capable of interrupting our thought of God. It doesn't overnight nor does it happen easily. Like any dream that we have, we do need to put some work into it in order to make it happen. 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 113 - Under Open Heavens Whether we feel it or not—believe it or not, this is our identity. We live as beloved sons and daughters of God. There's a temptation to believe the we have to do something amazing or special to be able to bring the Gospel and Christ to people. But the reality is, the same spirit and the same gifts are given to us in our baptism as Christians and Catholics. All of us are called to bring the Gospel and Christ to people and by participating in this mission we are just being who we are supposed to be. This episode talks more about our identity, the inheritance we have and our mission. A beautiful reminder that the power of Christ is already in us, we just have to embrace it—have faith in it! 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 112 - Words, Works, and Wonders We are all beloved sons and daughters of the Father and through our baptism we are all anointed and empowered. We don't have to be all-put-together or be perfect in order to bring healing to ourselves and to other people. We are all incomplete and despite that God wants to work through us—right now. There might be times that we can revert our eyes from our Jesus, or get stuck within ourselves or maybe distracted by the world. At times like this we need to fight a continuous battle to keep looking at Jesus and feed our faith. 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 111 - Searching and Fearless, Series on The Twelve Steps (Part 3 of 3) God wants to go back into our lives and our stories—and start speaking light, redemption and truth over that. There's the need for us to have a radical opening of our hearts and honesty to what really is happening in our lives. We have to be searching and fearless to admit what's inside our "junk room" and bring that to the Lord. Whatever that makes our lives unmanageable is just a symptom of something else. We not only need to look at the things that make our lives unmanageable but also we look at the things that drives them and the ripple effect that it had caused. This episode focuses on the gift and highlights of the remaining step. 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!