How much focused are you toward yourself? There can be times when we struggle with perfectionism, control, and activism, and this can sometimes rub off on our spiritual life.  Jesus does not demand great actions from us; rather, the invitation is simply to live in surrender and gratitude to Him. At times, we can take a more Pelagian approach where more emphasis is given to our efforts, initiatives, and self-improvement—our achievement of holiness rather than the primacy being given to God and it being His work. This gift of grace is the sweet way of love that Jesus sets before the little and the poor and that's what we're gonna talk about 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! 

The Sweet Way of Love

Join Fr. Innocent, Fr. Angelus, Fr. Pierre Toussaint, and Fr. Mark-Mary, priests of the Franciscan Friars of the Renewal, each week to discuss authentic faith in today's world as they share stories and wisdom from years of prayer, community life, and work with the poor.

It all comes back to this: finding deep friendship with Jesus. Seeing him work in our lives everyday. Through topics as varied as mental health, the confessional, and NYC neighbors, the Poco A Poco Podcast is here to accompany all pilgrims as they walk step by step, little by little, poco a poco on their pilgrimage to the Father's house.

The Franciscan Friars of the Renewal are a Catholic religious order founded in the South Bronx, NY.  Learn more or subscribe to their updates at www.franciscanfriars.com

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Series on "The Father" by Fr. Mark-Mary Ames, CFR (Part 9) Do you trust God's mercy? We are invited to bring to light those things that we are keeping in the dark, things that are tough, and trust that God in his mercy will love and care for us there. When we bring something to the Lord, it's forgiven and it's gone, He no longer sees us with that. He doesn't define us as a son or daughter who did this bad thing. To the Father's eyes, we are not defined by our sin and our weakness but by His love and our capacity to live like His son or daughter. But at the same time, sin still can seriously hurt us and the Father is also zealous to crush it and the things that lead us to them. Today we're looking at God and His Mercy and try to understand that a little bit. We'll take a look at both the merciful God and the God who is indifferent to sin. 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! 

Father of Mercies

Series on "The Father" by Fr. Mark-Mary Ames, CFR (Part 8) What's your initial response to difficulty? Difficulty and suffering is something that's part of the world we live in and to move forward with the Lord we have to live in this reality, even though it's hard.  God is with us in it! One of the things a father also has to do is to teach their children and equip their children to do hard things. God the Father equips us and prepares us for what we need to have fulfillment and happiness in salvation, which includes learning how to carry and share in the suffering on the cross.  In this episode, we'll talk about how to persevere in doing hard things for an extended period of time and how to stay steady with the Lord amidst the difficulty. Here's the link to the graph that we referenced in the video: https://bit.ly/pocofreedomgraph 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! 

Love and The Cross

Series on "The Father" by Fr. Mark-Mary Ames, CFR (Part 7) What's the role that rules and laws play? Rules create boundaries and usually define the best way to do things. However, following rules can also NOT lead to freedom, this is why we need to learn to find the right balance in following the rules. In this episode, we will talk about the spirituality of laws and rules and how we can find balance to be safe, secure, and free in following them.  We are also invited to look at some of these rules that we have established, these etiquettes or cultures that we've put on ourselves, our neighbors, or our pastors.  Let's do some discernment of whether or not these are from God or not. And to also, go deeper and see what's at the heart of why we do that and ultimately, bring that to the Lord. Here's the link to the graph that we referenced in the video: https://bit.ly/pocofreedomgraph 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! 

Law and the Father

Series on "The Father" by Fr. Mark-Mary Ames, CFR (Part 6) What does it mean to be safe? Safety is not the absence of suffering, it's not like we're not going to struggle with anything but it's the recognition that when we are vulnerable, we don't have to escape it, because someone wants to be with us and provide for us and that is our Lord, Jesus Christ. This is the safety that we are proposing. In this episode, we're focusing on the necessity of having sufficient resources and true expectations as we unpack what it really means to be truly safe. Here's the link to the graph that we referenced in the video: https://bit.ly/pocofreedomgraph 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! 

On Being Safe

Series on "The Father" by Fr. Mark-Mary Ames, CFR (Part 5) What does it mean to be loved and celebrated? We are favored sons and daughters worthy of celebration—of being served. We are worthy and loved by God and this episode talks about a step in the right direction on what it means to be loved and celebrated. This is a gentle call to conversion and repentance, an invitation to allow ourselves to be loved sacrificially and give God and others permission to love and celebrate us. Here's the link to the graph that we referenced in the video: https://bit.ly/pocofreedomgraph 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! 

The Sweet Way of Love

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