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

We take a look at two ways to live: The way of Simon the Pharisee (boring!!, empty, vanilla) and the way of the sinful woman who bathes the feet of Jesus with her tears.  Her love is desperate.  Her love makes others uncomfortable. But, her love is real!  Her love is beautiful.  Why does she love the way she loves and lives the way she lives?  She knows she's a sinner in need of the savior, and th...

We take a look at the story of Bartimaeus. One major theme is the way in which a blind person feels very vulnerable in the world and has a lot of fear/anxiety because of it. If we go about life without faith, it's like we're walking the streets of NYC blind. Faith gives us absolute security, it allows us to see who we are and that God's with us.

Have you ever noticed how "going for a walk" helps to calm you down when you are stressed?    God wants to walk with us before He works through us. Our daily encounter with Him becomes our training ground for a life that is rooted and grounded in love.  In this week's episode we talk about how to allow God to walk with us in the midst of our mess. God is always trying to draw us closer to him.   H...

Could God be prompting you to leave the boat -to take a radical break from your routine to get some rest and enjoy silence, so you can hear God's whispers and hear his nearness again?  In a culture where the world wears busyness as a badge of honor, how can we live in God's stillness?  This week we explore how Christian rest comes from living from our identity and sharing in Christ's own rest -bec...

What does a good movie, our desire for the best job, and that perfect picture we just posted on Instagram have to do with each other?  None of these things is wrong in itself. But when we begin to allow the things of the world to control us, we miss out on the joy of God's call for deeper intimacy in our hearts. In this week's episode we discuss the battle for our hearts which is also a battle for...

Grounding their discussion in Erasmo Leiva-Merikakis's book, The Way of the Disciple, the friars take a look at the battle of prayer. This is the principle place where we battle for grace, where we battle to receive the truth of our identity and the riches of our identity. But it takes work! It's hard! The good news is, with God's grace, we're capable of hard things! May this episode encourage us...

God has spoken, but he wants the Word to continue to echo through you! The Word became flesh, dwelt among us and revealed to us the heart of the Father. But the Word mission is not complete! In this week's episode the friars take a look at how different saints have heard the Word, been transformed by it, then echo it by their lives.. becoming a living word; And God wants to do the same through you...

Prayer is like oxygen; we can't live without it. If you're not praying, you're dying. Prayer is not optional in our lives but it's essential.    Prayer is our lifeline to God, and with it, lives are changed for eternity!   God invites us into an intimate relationship with Him.  Prayer is your relationship with God if we are living without prayer, we are living without God.  As with any relationshi...

Blessed are the peacemakers! Peace comes from knowing your identity, but also knowing who God is.  Knowing who you are and Whose you are changes everything.  God is the only One who knows the depth of your struggle, and therefore He is the only One who could offer the exact reassurance of peace we so desperately need to hear.   Are we confident in our spiritual inheritance as children of the Fathe...

God doesn't call us by our sin, He calls us by our name. Our dignity is based on the fact that we are His children.  In this episode week's episode the friars dive into what "blessed are the merciful" really means.  God loves us even in our sinfulness and wants to restore what sin has taken away.   We are called to come face to face with our brokenness so that we can experience true healing and me...

"Blessed are the pure of heart for they shall see God." Journey from the cry of the heart expressed in Psalm 80, "Show us your face and we shall be saved," to the tragic loss of the rich young man who went away sad because he missed the answer to who he is and what he's made for as it was revealed to him on the face of Jesus who looked at him and loved him, to the world transforming conversion of...

It's satisfaction guaranteed people! "They shall be satisfied." Not, they might be satisfied or 9/10 times those who hunger and thirst for righteousness claim to be satisfied. Satisfaction is guaranteed to those who hunger and thirst for righteousness! It's a promise and the Father always keeps his promises! But...you gotta want it. You have to burn for holiness. You have to burn for the infinite...

Fr. Lloyd has experienced a whole lot of life over the past 98 years. In his own words, what has he learned, "The Father thinks I'm hot stuff."  That's his friendly, New Yorker, way of saying the Father is well pleased with him.  The Father loves him and rejoices in him. And it's for you as well!  In this week's episodes the friars take a look at the true meaning of "meek."  Being meek doesn't mea...

There's a whole lot of Good News in this episode. Jesus has clothed the lilies with great splendor and they didn't have to do any work at all! And he reminds us, if I take such great care of the wild flowers, how much more will I care for you!   The friars invite you to take a prayerful journey into the heart of Jesus as it's revealed in the story of the raising of Lazarus where we see him weep ov...

"Love is an exodus from me to you" (Pope Benedict XVI). Oftentimes the spiritual life can be focused on." Am I growing? Am I getting after it? Am I, am I, am I... Of course, each individual's particular growth is important, and there is a place for examining our own lives, but discipleship is a team sport and it's in losing ourselves that we authentically find ourselves.  In the latest episodes, t...

Beggars and Beast Mode.  Taking another look at the "Franciscan Sweet Spot," poverty of spirit, the friars reconcile our poverty and dependence with the call to scale the heights of sanctity.  Fr. Innocent, Fr. Angelus, and Fr. Mark-Mary, looking at their own life experience, proclaim with conviction, that our poverty is not an obstacle to Christian excellence, but when it is properly brought to t...

Join Fr. Angelus, Fr. Innocent, and Fr. Mark-Mary, members of the Franciscan Friars of the Renewal, in a deep dive into the "Franciscan sweet spot": Poverty of Spirit and The Kingdom of Heaven where our dependence meets the Father's providence.  For this reason, the friars truly consider themselves, "Rich Kids." They are rich in intimacy with the Father and it's possible for you too! Punctuating e...

IT'S ALL ABOUT JESUS! In the latest episode of The Poco a Poco Podcast, Fr. Innocent, Fr. Angelus, and Fr. Mark-Mary take a totally fresh look at the Beatitudes.  And what do we discover in the beatitudes?  We discover the face of Jesus and the invitation to become authentically, and overwhelmingly, fascinated with Jesus.   IT'S ALL ABOUT JESUS! Jesus offers us the Beatitudes as a reminder of what...

Intimacy with the Father is for you!  FACT! Get it!   This is the first episode of The Poco A Poco Podcast in which all three hosts are present: Fr. Innocent, Fr. Angelus, and Fr. Mark-Mary of the Franciscan Friars of the Renewal.  After an extended introduction to their community, themselves, and the story behind "Poco a Poco" the friars proclaim with absolute conviction, rooted in lived experien...

Patience! It's the name of the game. During this third, and final, of the "Pandemic Episodes," Fr. Mark-Mary reminds us to be still and know that he is God! We can be sure that God is at work in our situation even though we don't know where he's leading and when we'll arrive.

In this second episode of the Poco a Poco Podcast, Fr. Mark-Mary gleams from the wisdom of Jesuit Spirituality as practiced by Fr. Walter Ciszek, SJ during his years of "Quarantine" in Soviet prisons and labor camps. Learn how to pick your battle and so win the war!

Our First Episode! Join Fr. Mark-Mary is the first episode of the Poco a Poco Podcast, the new podcast of the Franciscan Friars of the Renewal. Fr. Mark-Mary pulls from the wisdom of Catholics who have lived in "quarantine" to give some tips for thriving in faith during this uniquely difficult time.