Episode 276 - Jesus, Meekness, and Fighting Satan

What if meekness isn't weakness but the strongest way Jesus fights?

In this episode, the friars turn to "Blessed are the meek" and uncover how meekness is not passivity or timidity, but the fruit of deep confidence and identity as sons of the Father. They explore how Jesus enters the ultimate battle, not with force or armor, but with humility, vulnerability, and unwavering trust in who He is. This is how He confronts temptation, resists Satan, and claims victory.

They reflect on how our own battles are often fought in the same place: our identity. When we're rooted in the Father's love, insecurity loses its power, and we're free to stand firm without grasping, proving, or defending ourselves.

Join us as we learn how meekness becomes strength, identity becomes armor, and Christ's victory becomes our own.

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
https://www.pocomerch.com/

Check out the Eight Promises of God: Discovering Hope Through the Beatitudes book at
https://ascensionpress.com/products/eight-promises-of-god-discovering-hope-through-the-beatitudes

Episode 275 - Peace, Mercy, and Vulnerability

What if real peace only grows where we're willing to be vulnerable?

In this episode, the friars reflect on "Blessed are the peacemakers" and "Blessed are the merciful", showing how both Beatitudes invite us to step toward others with honesty and humility. Making peace means entering hard conversations without defenses. Mercy means letting go of the "high ground" we hold over those who've hurt us. Both require lowering ourselves, just as Jesus does.

They explore how vulnerability isn't weakness but the place where reconciliation becomes possible, where forgiveness takes root, and where the heart of Christ is revealed.

Join us as we learn the courage to be vulnerable and the freedom that comes from choosing mercy and peace.

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
https://www.pocomerch.com/

Check out the Eight Promises of God: Discovering Hope Through the Beatitudes book at
https://ascensionpress.com/products/eight-promises-of-god-discovering-hope-through-the-beatitudes

As Fr. Mark-Mary mentioned, the friars will be taking a meaningful break to embrace the rest and the joy of the Jubilee Year. While they are away, please enjoy listening (or re-listening) to this previously released episode, and join us in continuing to pray for Fr. Mark-Mary, Fr. Innocent, Fr. Angelus, and Fr. PT as they follow God's will and heed the call of the Jubilee.

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!

---

Do you wonder about Mary's firsthand memory or experience of God? 

We can relive Mary's memory and experience of God through the rosary. Rosary is like experiencing God with Mary—in her heart, her hospitality.

Mary is the most perfect Christian, the most perfect woman who's all about Jesus, and in this month of the Rosary, we are invited to take time and be with Her more and be able to love Jesus a lot more through her.

In this episode, we're gonna dive deep and talk about the Rosary, Mary, and Marian Devotion, and how we can open ourselves up to receive the hospitality of Mary.

Episode 192 - End of Year Identity Check

What was Jesus like for you this year?

As we end the year, let's do a poverty and identity check and put Jesus in the center as we look back to this past year and look forward to the coming year

For this episode, a proposal to reflect on where Jesus has been, how He has been with you, how He loved you, and how He is loving you into this year.

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 191 - Little Like Mary (Advent 2023), Series on "Prepare Your Heart" by Fr. Agustino Torres, CFR. (Part 4)

How often do you say Yes, without understanding or knowing the outcome? 

Sometimes we have to see and understand the plan before we say Yes, that's not our Lady's experience.

She didn't understand but she knew what was proposed to him by God, and despite that, she said Yes. She trusts; she surrenders in this whole experience of her life without knowing what's gonna happen.

This is the fourth part of this year's Advent series where we talk about Mary and her radical littleness and dependence on grace and God. An invitation to how we can become more and more dependent, more and more empty but with the confidence that we can be more and more full of God's grace. 

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!

You can get a copy of "Prepare Your Heart" by Fr. Agustino Torres, CFR from Ave Maria Press through this link: https://www.avemariapress.com/products/prepare-your-heart

Episode 190 - Good St. Joseph (Advent 2023), Series on "Prepare Your Heart" by Fr. Agustino Torres, CFR. (Part 3)

What's the best thing you learned from St. Joseph? 

Advent teaches us that God has a different way of doing things and St. Joseph is an amazing example and witness of that.

Throughout his life, St. Joseph should've had the opportunity to grasp human comfort or control, but instead, he chose to enter into humility, into silence, he didn't overthink, he didn't overtalk, but rather he trusted and was obedient to God while being completely attentive to Mary and Jesus. 

This Advent, just like St. Joseph, we are invited to be radically open to what God wants us to do. Advent is not about evaluating everything but being with those who are most important and anchoring ourselves to God like St. Joseph did.

This is the third part of this year's Advent series where we continue to look into the lives of different saints of Advent and for this episode, we're talking about the heart and experience of St. Joseph.

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!

You can get a copy of "Prepare Your Heart" by Fr. Agustino Torres, CFR from Ave Maria Press through this link: https://www.avemariapress.com/products/prepare-your-heart

Episode 189 - God is Working (Advent 2023), Series on "Prepare Your Heart" by Fr. Agustino Torres, CFR. (Part 2)

With what's currently happening in the world, can you believe that God is working??

As exemplified by St. Juan Diego, during this Advent and throughout the year, we are invited to live in relationship with the Lord through Mary, our Mother, our Lady. We can do that by beginning with a humble Yes. Let's say Yes and allow ourselves to be interrupted by her intercession and have confidence in the love and trust she has for all of us—to trust that she is here and very much alive. For as Mary comes, she is with Jesus.

Despite the discouragements in various parts of the world, there's also the truth that in the humblest places, God is working and we are always invited to keep crying out to Him.

This episode is the second part of this year's Advent series, where we begin to look into the lives of different saints of Advent.

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!

You can get a copy of "Prepare Your Heart" by Fr. Agustino Torres, CFR from Ave Maria Press through this link: https://www.avemariapress.com/products/prepare-your-heart

Episode 188 - Learning from Nazareth (Advent 2023), Series on "Prepare Your Heart" by Fr. Agustino Torres, CFR. (Part 1)

What does Nazareth look like for you and how does it compare to how you encounter Advent? 

Nazareth is a place where Jesus, Mary, and Joseph lived—a place of beauty, simplicity, and stillness. Meanwhile, Advent is a season of preparation for the coming of Jesus; For most of us, it is usually one of the busiest times of the year. So how can Advent be an experience of Nazareth during this busy time?

For this first part of this year's Advent series, we will talk about Nazareth and what we can learn from this place as we celebrate the Advent season.

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!

You can get a copy of "Prepare Your Heart" by Fr. Agustino Torres, CFR from Ave Maria Press through this link: https://www.avemariapress.com/products/prepare-your-heart

Episode 187 - Living Life Not Checking Boxes

What is driving your life? What's the reason you do what you do?

Life can sometimes become a series of boxes to check-we can tend to do things because we should or we have to as opposed to actually living life and doing things because our hearts want to. 

What we are proposing in this episode is for us to be more present in the moment and to particularly live from the Trinity dwelling within our hearts. Today, we're gonna talk about how much are we supposed to live from "the outside-in" vs. "the inside-out".

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 186 - Guidance for the Prophet

Have you encountered prophets in your life? 

Prophets are people who have a profound conviction and clarity about a particular component of the faith and those who practice it. Being a prophet is not about opinions, it is an experience or power that you have, given by God to be a prophetic witness in the world. It's about communicating something about who God is through ourselves.

In this episode, we will talk more about what a prophet is. We're gonna dive into how we can take this gift from God—this prophetic call and use it to build up the Kingdom as opposed to something that is a source of division, judgment, and conflict.

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 185 - Hunger for God

Are you HUNGRY for God? 

One of the foundational struggles that we have is that we're just not hungry for Him.

Part of the path, if not the path, is we're going to have to experience this hunger. A "stepping away" from the noise, distractions, and self-reliance and entering into a place of vulnerability and a sort of dependence on God, and being able to live and pray from that place. 

Today we're going to talk about the change of passions and desires and dive into how we can develop a taste for silence and ultimately grow in hunger and thirst for God.

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 184 - (Contemplative) Gains Don't Sleep

How can we live and create a space for contemplation, for silence, to be able to hear the voice of God in our lives?

God is always there. He's always giving himself to us and always longing to speak to us, but living in the constant influx of noise and immediate gratification profoundly affects our contemplative experience—our ability to sit in prayer for long periods to wait and sit for God.

That is why it's so important to retrain our hearts and our minds to receive Him.

This episode talks about strengthening the will and how we can create a lifestyle that actually supports and strengthens the will to grow in discipline, freedom, and our ability to make a free and total Yes to the Lord and his invitation.

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 183 - Contemplative Spaces

What stands in your way to go deeper with the Lord? 

We believe that growing in silence and our ability to contemplate is of supreme importance, but to actually respond to that is undoubtedly gonna be very very hard as well. So, how do we do this practically? 

Today, we're going to talk about how actual behavior change happens and how we can set ourselves up for success to truly grow in silence and make our contemplative spaces.

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!

As Fr. Mark-Mary mentioned, the friars will be taking a meaningful break to embrace the rest and the joy of the Jubilee Year. While they are away, please enjoy listening (or re-listening) to this previously released episode, and join us in continuing to pray for Fr. Mark-Mary, Fr. Innocent, Fr. Angelus, and Fr. PT as they follow God's will and heed the call of the Jubilee.

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!

---

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 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.

Episode 182 - Recieving Mary's Hospitality

Do you wonder about Mary's firsthand memory or experience of God? 

We can relive Mary's memory and experience of God through the rosary. Rosary is like experiencing God with Mary—in her heart, her hospitality.

Mary is the most perfect Christian, the most perfect woman who's all about Jesus, and on this month of the Rosary, we are invited to take time and be with Her more and be able to love Jesus a lot more through her.

In this episode, we're gonna dive deep and talk about the Rosary, Mary, and Marian Devotion and how we can open ourselves up to receive the hospitality of Mary.

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 181 - The Asceticism of Silence, Series on Silence Vs. Noise (Part 2 of 2)

What's the most prevalent voice that you hear in your life? Is it God's or someone's/something else?

We long to teach people how to pray and contemplative silence, inner recollection, and interior stillness are ways we can live in a relationship with God. But, there's a silver bullet to make people live in chaos and noise whether exteriorly or interiorly. 

Every single day through general media we are bombarded with chaos and noise and there's this turmoil all the time both internal and external that's a direct attack on how God speaks and how He wants to give Himself.

Today, in the next part of this mini-series, we'll dive deeper into the importance and experience of silence and attempt to stir people's hearts to recognize that this silence is against under direct attack and identify ways to defend against these attacks.

DISCLAIMER: We apologize in advance that you can't see Br. Kolbe video like you usually do in some parts of this episode. Unfortunately, we've had some technical difficulties with his camera during the recording session that rendered some of Br. Kolbe's footage unusable.

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 180 - The Battle, Series on Silence Vs. Noise (Part 1 of 2)

How are you able to receive and communicate with God?

Silence is the divine language. God, the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit love and communicate in eternal silence and if we want to look at and learn about God, we have to let ourselves be moved by that.

However, the world has become a place of radical noise, trying to rob us of the experience of God and there's always been an inner battle to stay in contemplative silence.

Today, we'll talk about the realities and dynamics of silence as God's language and how we can win the battle and be able to stay in this silence with 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 179 - Pray Always

Do you set a time in the day to pray? Do you stay in relationship with the Lord throughout the day?

Turns out, we should be doing both! We have an opportunity and even an invitation to remain in this relationship with the Lord throughout our day.

But to be able to do that, we have to make prayer important, make prayer a priority, and formally make God a part of our lives.

In this episode, we're going to talk about how we can sanctify our day by praying without ceasing and some practical examples of how to have ongoing conscious contact with God throughout the day. 

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 178 - Perseverence Not Pretty

Do you think God is calling us to be perfect or just to be pretty? Personally, I think not.

I believe what we're called to is not pretty or perfection but perseverance. 

Sometimes it's much easier to have a very happy-looking social media feed than to have a happy heart and home in reality. But we're not going for things to look good, instead what we're going for is to be good and to persevere in this goodness.

In this episode, we are going to highlight the importance of perseverance and how we can practice it in 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 177 - Gratitude vs Greed

A person who lives in a place of gratitude usually focuses on what they have. On the other hand, the person who struggles with greed and lives in that place usually focuses on what they don't have. 

Both can have or do not have the EXACT same thing but one person can have an experience of fullness and gratefulness while one person, has an experience of emptiness, and disappointment, discouragement. 

So in our lives, what are we focusing on—what are we paying attention to?

In today's episode, this is what we'll try to unpack. We're gonna talk about how we can cultivate this life of gratitude and how a spirit and a heart of gratitude can permeate 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 176 - Make a Home

What is the place of HOME? 

It's a place where we are safe, loved, known, and seen—a place where we are well-received and can be ourselves. 

Brokeness may significantly affect our experience of home but ideally home is a place of joy and laughter, a place of communion. 

In this episode, we'll talk about hospitality, what home is, what it can be, and how we can make it a place where we can joyfully experience living in relationships with love.

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 SEEK - Holiness is Possible

What is that SEEK episode, what happened in there? 

In the previous episodes, you might have heard that we referenced a SEEK episode a few times.

Today's episode is pretty unique—a throwback episode that we wanted to share with you to give you an idea about our SEEK episode but at the same time we're gonna talk about following Jesus. We're gonna talk about what you want and how you want to get it.

Holiness, happiness, and fullness of life are possible, but it doesn't happen by accident. 

We truly believe that it happens when we follow our hearts and allow the Lord to reveal our hearts to us to be able to fulfill 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!

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

Episode 175 - Detest Sin, Love Your Neighbor, Series on Fire Within by Fr. Thomas Dubay, S.M. (Part 8 of 8)

What happens when we deeply give ourselves to the lives of prayer and the experience of God?

The Fire Within series has been quite intense but it's actually the reality of the depths of the gospel truly lived. It goes beyond the ordinary simply because living out the Gospel wholeheartedly is NOT ordinary—but extraordinary.

And little by little, Poco a Poco, it's the place that we want to be.

This is the eighth and last episode of our Fire Within series, an invitation:

🔥To be the ones who say, "Yes" to the Lord. 
🔥To be the ones who live differently. 
🔥To be the ones who risk everything, who hold nothing back, and give themselves, in all they are.
🔥To be the John of the Crosses and the Teresa of Avilas for the next generation. 

Which ultimately, can happen through the radical living of the Gospel, loving God and our neighbors.

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 174 - Mind Your Business, Series on Fire Within by Fr. Thomas Dubay, S.M. (Part 7 of 8)

Solitude is not just quiet time for ourselves. It is not running from people, isolation, nor hiding from or avoiding our problems by going off and being by ourselves.

But rather it is avoiding certain behaviors, worldviews, curiosities, and distractions that take our focus on the Lord.

According to Fr. Dubay, authentic solitude is the healthy turning towards one's beloved. It is an authentic pursuit of the one we love, our beloved—a pursuit of the Lord with the desire to be in a relationship with Him. 

This is the seventh episode of our Fire Within series which talks about detachment and solitude—an encouragement to find and pursue authentic solitude and grow in our spiritual life.

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!

As Fr. Mark-Mary mentioned, the friars will be taking a meaningful break to embrace the rest and the joy of the Jubilee Year. While they are away, please enjoy listening (or re-listening) to this previously released episode, and join us in continuing to pray for Fr. Mark-Mary, Fr. Innocent, Fr. Angelus, and Fr. PT as they follow God's will and heed the call of the Jubilee.

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!

---

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.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.

Episode 173 - Humility, Obedience, and Prayer, Series on Fire Within by Fr. Thomas Dubay, S.M. (Part 6 of 8)

Humility is a lowliness—lowliness not for its own sake but rather a right understanding of who we are and who we are not.

It's a place where you know more about what everybody is saying in a room, but don't always have to say anything or don't need to be someone who wants to seem smarter than everybody else.

In this sixth episode of our Fire Within series, we're gonna talk about the importance of humility and some of its practical applications in our journey for growth in our spiritual 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 172 - Suffering and Prayer, Series on Fire Within by Fr. Thomas Dubay, S.M. (Part 5 of 8)

In reality, suffering's out there, in many ways, and in most ways, it's unavoidable.

So, "Okay, what do we do with it?". This is the question that we'll try to unpack in today's episode.

We are invited to unite our suffering with Jesus and offer it to Him. As we suffer generously and give that to the Lord, one of the fruits of it is that it creates the space and cultivates the soul for profound union with God Himself.

In this fifth episode of our Fire Within series, we'll dive into and talk about suffering, prayer, and growth in the spiritual life and discuss the close correlation between suffering and growth in prayer.

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 171 - Conditions for Growth, Series on Fire Within by Fr. Thomas Dubay, S.M. (Part 4 of 8)

We are all invited to a profound, mystical union with God. 

But in order to grow in our spiritual life, Fr. Dubay mentioned in his book that there are certain conditions that we need to understand for our growth in the mystical or spiritual life. 

In this fourth episode of our series on the Fire Within, we'll try to reflect upon and respond to the 8 conditions for spiritual growth. This also is an invitation to spiritually "get our ducks in a row", leave behind sin, and live the Gospel with generosity.

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 170 - Experiencing God, Series on Fire Within by Fr. Thomas Dubay, S.M. (Part 3 of 8)

The medicine for wanting to pray is learning to live in the reality that's most true-God wants to be in communion with us.

Meditation, contemplation, and infused prayer are things that can help us live in this reality and this is what we're gonna talk about in this third episode of our series on the Fire Within. 

This episode also aims to present before us, an authentically Catholic understanding of experiences of God and give witness through what we see in scripture and the lives of the saints.

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 169 - Prayer and Repentance, Series on Fire Within by Fr. Thomas Dubay, S.M. (Part 2 of 8)

Growth in spiritual life is never easy.

In the beginning, it's gonna take a LOT of effort. But as it goes on, you'll notice that it becomes more and more the Lord's work and less and less contingent on our human work.

This is the second episode of our series on the Fire Within that talks about how St. Theresa sees the "giftness" of advanced prayer and the relationship between prayer and the profound growth in the spiritual life.

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 168 - Serious Prayer and Serious Joy, Series on Fire Within by Fr. Thomas Dubay, S.M. (Part 1 of 8)

We are anointed with the power of the holy spirit and this is the fire that we've been given.

With this fire, all of us are called to live a deep union with God—not just to live in mediocrity with our spiritual life but to set ablaze with love for the Lord.

This is the first episode of our series on the Fire Within which reminds us of the importance of being given to prayer and the importance of being "on fire" in a profound union with 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 167 - Actions and Consequences

Jesus dying on the cross is the symbol of God's victory but is also the consequence to sin. 

This is one of the most striking examples that there are things that we can do that are gonna have real concrete consequences in our lives and the lives of others. 

As Christians and Catholics, we try to memorialize this consequence through the crucifix. But in reality, there's still a real struggle in surrendering to the fact that our actions have real consequences. 

So in this episode, we will talk about the importance of our actions and consequences and attempt to make sense of why it is important 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! 

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

Episode 166 - More Than My Sin

How do we respond to the serious sins in our lives? 

For many of us, there is a temptation to be overly critical of ourselves and we let that define us. But, our spiritual life should not be defined by these serious sins. 

We are invited to be with the Lord and let him teach us about our hearts in the place of sin. 

In this episode, we'll unpack and attempt to answer this question. A reminder that you are more than your sins.

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 165 - On Being Chosen

Loneliness can make us feel that we're not chosen, it can give us a sense that we are totally in isolation.

And sometimes it's so easy to forget BUT we have to remember what's true—we have a God who loves us and chooses us. 

This is the first part of our series on Fr. Dubay's The Fire Within where we dive deep into the idea, experience, and desire of being chosen—a reminder that despite the difficulties in our life experiences, we are chosen, desired, and pursued by God.

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 164 - The Body and Blood of Christ

Do we still know deep within ourselves, how amazing the gift of the Eucharist is?

Sometimes, we can forget and take that for granted, but it's awesome how Jesus gives Himself to us, in the form of bread and wine through the Eucharist. In the most humble way, the Lord wants to offer himself to us and be with us ALWAYS.

In celebration of the Feast of Corpus Christi, we're going to dive deeper into the Eucharist and its importance—an attempt to remind ourselves of the beauty and essence of this amazing gift.

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!

As Fr. Mark-Mary mentioned, the friars will be taking a meaningful break to embrace the rest and the joy of the Jubilee Year. While they are away, please enjoy listening (or re-listening) to this previously released episode, and join us in continuing to pray for Fr. Mark-Mary, Fr. Innocent, Fr. Angelus, and Fr. PT as they follow God's will and heed the call of the Jubilee.

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!

---

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.

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.

Episode 163 - Praying with Scripture

The Scripture is one of the Lord's best ways to talk to us, a way for us to converse with God.

It is also a good reminder of who Jesus is and who we are to Him.

Most of us say that praying with scriptures is something that's good to do, but how do we actually do that?

In this episode, we're going to offer some initial guidance on praying with scriptures and provide some good practices that might be helpful for us to have a more fruitful relationship with God through the scriptures.

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 162 - My Brother's Keeper?

Not every relationship is the same, so not every fraternal correction will be the same. 

This may vary between a parent and a child, between friends, between a boss and his subordinates, between strangers, or between a formator and the people their forming. 

In today's episode, we will discuss essential distinctions when it comes to fraternal correction and try to shed some light on what would be our responsibilities or what we are supposed to do when we encounter people in our daily walks of life and we would like to engage in fraternal correction.

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 161 - Dealing with Loneliness

Loneliness is a common experience that we all share. 

Whether you're in crowds of people or constantly with other people who are not peers. Maybe you're in a marriage surrounded by kids all day, or you could be in isolation and feel you have not been chosen by people.

Either way, at times we can experience loneliness at some point.

Instead of trying to escape it or fill that void with other things, what exactly do we need to do with that loneliness? This is what we are going to unpack and attempt to answer in this episode. 

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 160 - Prayer, Presence, Party (Easter Things)

What do you do after Easter Sunday?

We are invited to be overwhelmed with paschal joy during the Easter season, but instead, we usually resolve to our daily grind like everything isn't transformed by our encounter with the risen Lord. 

So many of us return to our normal ways shortly after the resurrection—we can sometimes take comfort in that.

In today's episode, we're gonna talk about the importance of Easter and how we can allow the liturgy to break into our everyday 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 159 - Our Stories

How much do you know about the hosts of the Poco a Poco Podcast?

Some people have been along with the Poco a Poco journey for some time now and may already know certain things about them. On the other hand, some people might also be new to this podcast and may want to know more about our beloved brothers.

So in today's episode, the Poco a Poco squad is going to share a little bit of their stories—their testimonies about what God has done to their lives and how they got to where they are now.

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 158 - The Options Not Optional

"How is Jesus calling you to serve the poor?" This is the question we'll attempt to answer in this episode.

Jesus loved the poor and like Him, we are called to be a lifeline for a person in need.

God's sees the poor but we are called to intercede on their behalf—to be somebody who'e able to bring them to Him.

This episode talks about the importance, necessity and the beauty of having hearts that are mindful of those who are most in need. An invitation to live how Jesus lived and loved those in need.

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 157 - Hot Takes 3

We have to understand that we are going through different journeys. God is doing something completely different in each of our lives and we have to be attentive to that. Let us not be so quick to judge—everything is not as simple as it may seem. 

As we continue our journeys through life, we will constantly encounter our own and other people's struggles, flaws, weaknesses, and even sins. 

In our Catholic life, there will be a lot of questions that will come our way and in this episode, we'll try to answer a few of them.

Here is another one of our Hot Takes episodes that talks about some essential topics that most of us can relate to. In this episode we'll be going through the following topics: 

1️⃣ Should I write down my sins for confession?
2️⃣ How to make a better confession.
3️⃣ Thoughts on the fraternal correction.
4️⃣ Theraphy, Yes or No?
5️⃣ Chapel Etiquette

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 156 - I Am The Resurrection

Do we live our lives believing—having faith in the ressurection? 

In this ongoing journey of stripping the things we clothe ourselves with, Jesus wants us to give him the things that hold us back and desires to give himself in return. 

We have sins that isolates and causes us to go into hiding, but the gift of the resurrection breaks it all open.

This episode focuses on the importance of the resurrection. An invitation to allow the hope of the resurrection to enter into all of our darkness and all of the different areas of our lives, in this Valley of Tears as we continue to journey through it.

This Easter season let's pray to have an increase in faith in the Lord and his resurrection.

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 155 - Surrender It All (Lent 2023)

Can we allow oursleves to be exposed before the Lord in prayer? 

Are we able to be before the Lord as we are and not holding anything back of ourselves or hiding ourselves in any way? 

These are the questions that we are attempting to unpack in this seventh part of our Lenten series. 

In this episode we are talking about how we can be stripped of all the things we cloth ourselves with—to be clothed with the dignity of the Father's providence and our identity.

An invitation to be naked without shame and give the God everything—to be able to surrender the fullness of our past, our lives to Him and firmly trust that he can take it all on himself and let us begin again.

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 154 - Surrender Authority (Lent 2023)

How does Jesus have authority? It is through His obedience to the Father.

But one incredible reality of Jesus is that, in His authority He takes all the stench to the cross where it will be killed in His crucifixion.

His authority is not one that lords it over us. It's not one that forces us to bow down and tremble before Him. But it's one that allows Himself to be emptied and clothed with all the messiness, struggles, confusion and pain so he can take it to his death at the cross.

And in His authority he conquers sin and death, upon his resurrection.

This episode is the sixth part of our Lenten series on Fr. Mark Toups's Lenten Companion that reminds us that we should not take lightly that God comes and let himself be stripped and crucified for all of us—an invitation to allow Jesus to have authority to live his life in obedience and in surrender to his Father, within ourselves.

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!

As Fr. Mark-Mary mentioned, the friars will be taking a meaningful break to embrace the rest and the joy of the Jubilee Year. While they are away, please enjoy listening (or re-listening) to this previously released episode, and join us in continuing to pray for Fr. Mark-Mary, Fr. Innocent, Fr. Angelus, and Fr. PT as they follow God's will and heed the call of the Jubilee.

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!

---

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.

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.

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 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.

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 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.

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!