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

Episode 90 - The Spark of Conversion, Series on Conversion by Fr Haggerty (1/8): Introduction, Chapter 1 There's a reason that this book is required reading for all CFR postulants. It's intense, and we're ready to get into it in this series. Because it's all about Jesus. And conversion is at the heart of the daily experience of saying "yes" to Jesus. Conversion isn't something that happens "out there"; it's not a personal project or a formation program. There's nothing abstract about it. It's a real encounter with the living person of Jesus Christ, and realizing we must turn away from ourselves and towards Christ. It can be terrifying, but we have to make a decision to allow Jesus in and change our lives. A life of fidelity starts with the spark of conversion drawing us near to Jesus, and then us choosing to stay near to him, despite any temptation to remain in other things. Order Conversion by Fr Haggerty: https://www.ignatius.com/Conversion-P341.aspx The Poco a Poco podcast happens because of generous donors like you. Monthly donations are particularly helpful for our future planning. You can give at https://spiritjuice.org/supportpoco. Thank you!

Episode 89 - Ending the Year Well Our last episode of the year… a time that often means reflecting on the last year and looking forward to the next one. As you look back on 2021, there are probably loose ends—struggles, situations—that haven't been resolved. It's easy to wish that everything would just make sense, but sometimes it just doesn't. And looking forward to 2022, well: it can be hard to know what is in store. There's great mystery in it all. But we have a great model in sitting before mystery: Mary, Mother of God. Mary experienced incredible mystery in her life, and throughout it all, she sat before this mystery and pondered these things in her heart. Like Mary, we have the chance to trust the Lord and say "yes" to the new year, even without knowing what is to come or fully understanding the last year. There's a lot we don't know… but we know that God loves us. And as long as we're with him, it's going to be ok. Starting next episode, we'll be going through Conversion by Fr Haggerty. https://www.ignatius.com/Conversion-P341.aspx The Poco a Poco podcast happens because of generous donors like you. Monthly donations are particularly helpful for our future planning. You can give at https://spiritjuice.org/supportpoco. Thank you!

Episode 88 - Imaginative Prayer (Advent 2021) Maybe you've heard about the nativity scene plenty, and seen it depicted endlessly. Do you really think you've entered as deeply into that mystery as you can? There's more! The Holy Spirit is never exhausted. It's the same with all of Scripture. This isn't a collection of abstract ideas; these are stories of real people, and these stories can bring us into real relationship. How can these stories become personal? A type of lectio divina emphasized by St Ignatius of Loyola: imaginative prayer. Meditating on Scripture this way, using human imagination and with God's grace, can lead to encountering these stories on a different level. Put yourself in the nativity scene. Pray with Mary and Joseph and the wise men. Let God reveal more to you. This is the final episode with Finding Your Place in the Advent Story from Ascension Press. Check it out here: https://ascensionpress.com/collections/rejoice-finding-your-place-in-the-advent-story Starting in the new year, we'll be going through Conversion by Fr Haggerty. https://www.ignatius.com/Conversion-P341.aspx The Poco a Poco podcast happens because of generous donors like you. Monthly donations are particularly helpful for our future planning. You can give at https://spiritjuice.org/supportpoco. Thank you!

Episode 87 - The Resourcefulness of God (Advent 2021) Fourth Week of Advent The Lord doesn't need a perfect moment to do what he does. He can use—and has used—all the secular events and moments in history to bring about his plan. The detours and decisions and even things that feel like inconveniences—he'll work with it all. And it's not that he's just done this once or twice… it seems to be his method. God works through the stuff. It's all very incarnational. Never doubt that any situation is beyond God's reach. Right now, we're going through Advent with Finding Your Place in the Advent Story from Ascension Press. Check it out here: https://ascensionpress.com/collections/rejoice-finding-your-place-in-the-advent-story The Poco a Poco podcast happens because of generous donors like you. Monthly donations are particularly helpful for our future planning. You can give at https://spiritjuice.org/supportpoco. Thank you!

Episode 86 - Our Father is Faithful (Advent 2021) Third Week of Advent As a people and a Church, we have a common patrimony and inheritance of promises kept. Over time, salvation history involves real people and real stories—God breaks into history. Think Elizabeth and Zachariah. Simeon. Anna. We are part of this story, living in salvation history. We must remember that God has been faithful to us, and use that memory to stay. God can't fulfill his promises to us if we leave. The saints we look to had their own struggles and their own trials, and the Lord was faithful to them. It was a faithfulness that satisfied something in their own lives, but there's also a way in which it bore fruit such that we're recipients of the fruitfulness of these people. There might be something that the Lord's doing in our lives that is also going to be fruitful for other people we meet. Other people will inherit this. We're going through Advent with Finding Your Place in the Advent Story from Ascension Press for the next few episodes. Check it out here: https://ascensionpress.com/collections/rejoice-finding-your-place-in-the-advent-story The Poco a Poco podcast happens because of generous donors like you. Monthly donations are particularly helpful for our future planning. You can give at https://spiritjuice.org/supportpoco. Thank you!

Episode 85 - Give God Time (Advent 2021) Second Week of Advent God doesn't make empty promises. But for many people… there are promises they won't see fulfilled in their lifetimes. In receiving his promises, we also have to receive his timeline. What does it look like to let God take his time? Start with stillness; sit in it; talk to him about it; think about when God has fulfilled his promises in your life. He hasn't abandoned you before, and he won't abandon you now. Start off with what we know is true. Either the Father is good, or he's not. Either the Father is present, or he's not. We have to evangelize ourselves with the truth that is more real than suffering. We're going through Advent with Finding Your Place in the Advent Story from Ascension Press for the next few episodes. Check it out here: https://ascensionpress.com/collections/rejoice-finding-your-place-in-the-advent-story The Poco a Poco podcast happens because of generous donors like you. Monthly donations are particularly helpful for our future planning. You can give at https://spiritjuice.org/supportpoco. Thank you!

Episode 84 - Hope for a Hard Life (Advent 2021) First Week of Advent The lived experience of most people is: life is hard. We're still in this valley of tears. We live it, but might not be relating it in a way that's helpful… we just drag it around. Enter: Advent. A season of hope and of promises fulfilled. Expectant hope, with confidence that the Lord is good and is at work for our good in our lives—the ultimate hope of heaven and of tears being wiped away. Whatever you're experiencing—God's coming. God's response to our struggle is the gift of himself. He doesn't promise to solve any problem now and make everything okay, but he promises to give us himself. He wants us to experience peace here and now, not only in the future. We're going through Advent with Finding Your Place in the Advent Story from Ascension Press for the next few episodes. Check it out here: https://ascensionpress.com/collections/rejoice-finding-your-place-in-the-advent-story The Poco a Poco podcast happens because of generous donors like you. Monthly donations are particularly helpful for our future planning. You can give at https://spiritjuice.org/supportpoco. Thank you!

Episode 83 - Mercy, Mercy, Mercy!, A series on King David: Part 4 of 4 Are we good at repenting? When someone notices our stuff and points it out… are we open to it? To repenting wholeheartedly? Or do we hold onto it? We need help repenting and finding healing, so God constantly sends prophets to speak into the lives of his chosen people. David's a really good example of how to be formed; how to be led. Look at Psalm 51 for a model of repentance. The orientation is totally towards God; it's not about turning in on ourselves. It is God who creates a new heart in you. We can choose to make sure that repentance takes place in relationship with God, who loves us. Even in the repentance of Psalm 51, there's a hope for restoration and reconciliation, and a recognition that God is still a giver of good gifts. Let us repent well. Coming up: we're going to prepare for Advent with Finding Your Place in the Advent Story from Ascension Press. Check it out here: https://ascensionpress.com/collections/rejoice-finding-your-place-in-the-advent-story The Poco a Poco podcast happens because of generous donors like you. Monthly donations are particularly helpful for our future planning. You can give at https://spiritjuice.org/supportpoco. Thank you!

Episode 82 - A Father's Faithfulness, A series on King David: Part 3 of 4 David sinned when he wasn't doing what he was supposed to be doing; when he had pulled back from God's calling. We have to be careful of comfort and of being distracted, because it leads to a place of being unfaithful. Instead, we have to keep moving forward in God's will, which can regularly take us to less comfortable places. We're called to lay down our lives—to endure the crosses of life and get to heaven. It's not easy… but God's faithfulness far outweighs our unfaithfulness. Remember: there are certain things the Lord does that he doesn't take back, like free will. The same is true with anointings. Keep choosing to do what you're supposed to be doing, and be faithful to the Father who is always faithful to you. Coming up: we're going to prepare for Advent with Finding Your Place in the Advent Story from Ascension Press. Check it out here: https://ascensionpress.com/collections/rejoice-finding-your-place-in-the-advent-story The Poco a Poco podcast happens because of generous donors like you. Monthly donations are particularly helpful for our future planning. You can give at https://spiritjuice.org/supportpoco. Thank you!

Episode 81 - The Good Shepherd: Tender and Fierce, A series on King David: Part 2 of 4 David is tender to his sheep, and also willing to fight for them. And he'll be the same in his future vocation—the way that he was shepherd is the way he will be king. As he fights Goliath, he reveals something to us about the heart of God: God will go to battle against our giants. Though David wasn't skilled or qualified like everybody else was, he was aggressive in his confidence before the Father. As if to say, "I am anointed, and now this anointing is bearing fruit." There's something about David going into battle without the armour. It's symbolic of his poverty and dependence. His attempt to wear Saul's armour and sword is our attempt to grasp at an identity that isn't ours. If I could just be like that person doesn't work. David goes into it poor, and himself. So should we, in a way that allows the Lord to be powerful. Coming up: we're going to prepare for Advent with Finding Your Place in the Advent Story from Ascension Press. Check it out here: https://ascensionpress.com/collections/rejoice-finding-your-place-in-the-advent-story The Poco a Poco podcast happens because of generous donors like you. Monthly donations are particularly helpful for our future planning. You can give at https://spiritjuice.org/supportpoco. Thank you!