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

Latest Episodes:

Surrender the Stench (Lent 2023) Mar 22, 2023

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Episode 153 - Surrender the Stench (Lent 2023)

"Have I told Jesus all of my story?" That's the question that we are going to unpack in this episode.

Most of us have confessed and have sought healing in particular places of our lives, but there are still parts of who we are now that we keep in the dark—the stench.

The reality of that stench is that it is discouraging and it is despairing, but Jesus comes and He's not afraid of that.

This episode is the fifth part of our Lenten series on Fr. Mark Toups's Lenten Companion. An invitation to have the radical vulnerability and trust to say "Jesus here is everything." and let Him see all of the death and stench in our lives.

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Surrender the Script (Lent 2023) Mar 15, 2023

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Episode 152 - Surrender the Script (Lent 2023)

There's this simplicity that when we encounter Jesus, our lives become different. We may not understand it and it might not look the same for each of us, but our lives becomes different.

Just like the story of the man born blind, before he met Jesus and hoped in Him, he was living in darkness unable to see. After his encounter there had been healing and he was finally able to see. Things changed.

We know that there's an absolute vulnerability and struggle with physical blindness and it is similar to the vulnerability and struggles that we have in the desires we can't give ourselves.

That is why we need to receive this gift of acceptance and surrender for us be comfortable in being uncomfortable.

This episode is the fourth part of our Lenten series on Fr. Mark Toups's Lenten Companion, a beginning of a journey of surrender. An invitation to make space for the Lord, ask Jesus for help with the crosses we carry and to trust and hope, not for outcomes but in Him.

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At The Well (Lent 2023) Mar 08, 2023

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Episode 151 - At The Well (Lent 2023)

In one form or another we can sometimes live in isolation and hiding. Because of shame and sin we clothe ourselves with shadows, we hide. These lies that we hide behind keeps us stuck and paralyzed—Jesus wants to call us out of that.

The places of hiding don't have to defeat us, but they can become these intimate places where the Lord desires to be.

This episode is the third part of our Lenten series on Fr. Mark Toups's Lenten Companion that talks about the Well not only as a place of shame but intimacy as well. This episode shows us the reality of the renunciation and what it means to leave the shadows behind.

An invitation to say "no more lying and hiding", an invitation to be honest that the shadows affect us, an invitation to name our struggles or sins, an invitation to remember that the brokenness never defines us.

A reminder that God is always in search for us, that we are pursued even as sinners and He wants to shed light to our darkness.

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Up The Mountain (Lent 2023) Mar 01, 2023

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Episode 150 - Up The Mountain (Lent 2023)

What going up the mountain offers is an opportutiy to come face-to-face with God.

It provides a perspective where we can see what's actually important. Up there we are invited to embrace the experience and the beauty of childlike wonder and awe, it's a place of intimacy with and revelation of God.

But the challenge as we go up the mountain is that we have to let go of things. And it's difficult because most of us have surrendered theophany for dopamine. We have been used to this constant consumption of "dopamine kicks"—the consumption of these things that makes us feel good.

As we go up the mountain, we need empty ourselves, and allow God to lead us there. So that we can have His eyes look upon us, which is the purest, the truest, the tenderest, the most loving, and the most hope-filled.

This episode is the second part of our Lenten series on Fr. Mark Toups's Lenten Companion.

🛒 You can also grab your Poco a Poco Merchandise at pocomerch.com!

Into The Desert (Lent 2023) Feb 22, 2023

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Episode 149 - Into The Desert (Lent 2023)

There are a number of practices that we are preparing to do during this Lent. But this time of year shouldn't only be a project that we need to fulfill but rather an opportunity.

Lent is an opportunity to exercise a posture of prayer, fasting, almsgiving and surrender. Surrenderring to someone, to a relationship that matters, to God.

This episode is the first part of our Lenten series on Fr. Mark Toups's Lenten Companion. In this episode, we're gonna talk about about how we transform what's being taken from us to something that is offered, how we can make our sacrifices and circumstances, holy.

A reminder and an invitation to relinquish control and to entrust everything to the Lord when we cannot control or we don't like the things happening around us. A proposal to trust that the Lord can make something good and beautiful out of it.

🛒 You can also grab your Poco a Poco Merchandise at pocomerch.com!

Blessed Are The Poor Feb 15, 2023

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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.

🛒 You can also grab your Poco a Poco Merchandise at pocomerch.com!

Hope For Everything Feb 08, 2023

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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.

🛒 You can also grab your Poco a Poco Merchandise at pocomerch.com!

Realities Not Fantasies Feb 01, 2023

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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.

🛒 You can also grab your Poco a Poco Merchandise at pocomerch.com!

A Freedom Greater Than Circumstances Jan 25, 2023

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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.

🛒 You can also grab your Poco a Poco Merchandise at pocomerch.com!

Strong But Weak Jan 18, 2023

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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.

🛒 You can also grab your Poco a Poco Merchandise at pocomerch.com!

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