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

Episode 148 - Blessed Are The Poor The first of the nine beatitudes of Matthew said, "Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven." The world is constantly trying to define us—it tries to tell us who we are. Our successes, belongings, talents, people in our lives, our jobs, culture and technology, all these things tends make us who we are. We beclothed ourselves with these things and we are tempted to find our identity in them. But again, "Who Is God and Who Am I?". To understand what it means to be truly free and live in freedom as sons and daughters of God, we have to keep this question before us. We have to let go of other worldly things and not be afraid of staying in the place of spiritual poverty before the Lord. This episode is the fourth and last part of our series on Interior Freedom by Fr. Jacque Philippe that talks about freedom in spiritual poverty. An invitation for us to remain in this place of poverty and let God define us, give us everything and ultimately lead us to the kingdom of heaven. 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 147 - Hope For Everything We cannot grow in freedom unless we grow in faith, hope and love—that's the recipe for freedom. Faith, hope and love are the three theological virtues that connect us to God. As Christians, we are people who believe in God, hope everything from Him, and want to love Him with all their hearts and to love their neighbors. This episode is the third part of our series on Interior Freedom by Fr. Jacque Philippe that talks about the key role of theological virtues in acquiring internal freedom with a particular focus on the importance of Hope. An invitation to freedom for those who feel defeated and those who might've lost a sense of hope in the Lord. 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 146 - Realities Not Fantasies We think we're most free when we can kind of be in control. "I'm free when I get to get up every day and just have control over my life and my circumstances." That's not a Catholic freedom according to Jacque Philippe, but it is actually being able to accept reality as it is. We struggle with freedom because it's hard to accept our weakness. It's quite difficult to accept our sinfulness—it's hard to accept these different parts of our lives. But if we don't accept ourselves, our realities, we either live in memories or fantasies where Jesus can't reach us. This episode is the second part of our series on Interior Freedom by Fr. Jacque Philippe that talks about and the importance of acceptance towards being truly free. 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 145 - A Freedom Greater Than Circumstances What makes us most free, is this submitting to God and this dependence on Him. Yes, freedom is actually dependent on obedience rather than kind of doing whatever I want. When we fall in love with God and we experience that love, this deep interior freedom takes place and it becomes the most important thing of our lives—even to a point that is greater than our circumstances. This episode is the first part of our series on Interior Freedom by Fr. Jacque Philippe that talks about what it means to live in freedom as sons and daughters of God and how this freedom can become greater than the circumstances of our lives. 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 144 - Strong But Weak How do we reconcile being strong and weak at the same time? There has to come a healthy recognition that we're just unable to do things. And it's in this weakness, in recognizing that we have a lack, that Christ is then able to come in and actually be the one who moves us through that weakness into a place of strength. In this episode, we're gonna talk about and attempt to reconcile how we are supposed to be strong but weak at the same time. 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 143 - Getting Virtue Right A habitual and firm disposition to do good, not just for ourselves but for everybody—this is how virtue is defined. Virtue allows the person, not only to perform good acts but to give the best of themselves for the greatest good of everybody. But why do we do it? Who's it truly for and how do we exactly do it right? In this episode, we'll attempt to answer these questions as we talk about what virtue is along with some insights and practical examples on how we might get it wrong and how we can get it right. 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 142 - Relationship, Identity, Mission "Who Is God" and "Who am I?" This is what we're attempting to answer when we talk about living in the proper order of relationship, identity, and mission. We are living in a time where we're going through an identity crisis. In the very foundation, a lot of us are forgetting who we are. We forget that we are sons and daughters of God and that we are made for relationship with Him. We've allowed the world, our successes, brokenness, and weaknesses to define us. We've allowed all these things on the outside to define us instead of starting in the right place. This episode talks more about relationship, identity, and mission—what these are about and why are they important. A reminder that our relationship with God tells us the truth about who we are and how that can help us live our mission. 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 141 - Formation First Why do we need to go deeper into our spiritual life? What does that actually mean? Going deeper into our spiritual life means recognizing that we are not the ones in control anymore. It is accepting this place of poverty that we cannot only rely on ourselves, to fabricate everything and make it work. It is having that absolute trust and confidence in the presence of God. Yes, life will be hard, there will be poverty, there is real suffering, there will be death and there will be sin. But what do we do with that? Do we get discouraged and face our weakness over and over again or do we allow God to make the foundation of our hearts, our faith, our relationship, unshakeable. In this episode, we'll be talking about the choices we make in our lives that is geared towards formation along with some practical examples on how the presence of Jesus-the peace he gives us becomes more real than the circumstances that we have. An invitation to be able to say that "Jesus I trust you, I know you're here and I know you're real." even when it's hard. To be in a place where we can be utterly poor and can utterly rely and trust in God as we face our limitations. 🛒 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 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!