There is the undeniable temptation to achieve and perform in order prove that we are good enough. But, it shouldn't be all about that. We are gifts to the Lord not because of our perfection but only because of who we are. We can get caught up in the little things that we do and detach them from the overall goal. It's not just about being perfect on all virtue, discipline or devotions—it should all be geared towards Love. The love of God and growing in love with him, that's the ultimate goal. This is a supplementary episode to close the series on The Practice of the Presence of God, that talks about experiencing love, learning to be and being loved and from that being able to love. You can find the Presence of God challenge in the Hallow App or this link https://app.hallow.com/challenges/51, where you can join in and reflect with Fr. Mark-Mary on The Practice of the Presence of God by Brother Lawrence. 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!
Series on The Practice of the Presence of God (Part 4 of 4) There's a lot happening in the world we live in, and nothing much we can do about it. During this difficult time we need to pay attention to the Lord—to be immersed in the mystery of God, his goodness and his mercy. It's good to understand what is and what's not in our circle of influence even though it might be in our own country, group, family or even in our own life. Let's discern with the Lord, what's His and whats ours to deal with together. The beauty and grace of it is that we have the freedom to surrender all the things we cannot control, and bring it God. Let's not fall to the pattern of distraction, discouragement, despair. We need to find a way to encounter the light to push back the darkness. There's hope to find peace amidst chaos. You can find the Presence of God challenge in the Hallow App or this link https://app.hallow.com/challenges/51, where you can join in and reflect with Fr. Mark-Mary on The Practice of the Presence of God by Brother Lawrence. 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!
Series on The Practice of the Presence of God (Part 3 of 4) We can't do anything more to earn God's love, we have it already! We can be weak, we can be poor, and we can be sinners—and that's okay. We can bring all that to the Lord and that's where we start. Jesus doesn't want us to give him the good things alone, but the bad things as well. What the Lord wants is for us to invite Him in that space for Him to be with us on that. What we need to do is to surrender every bit of who we are, surrender our desires to control and give it all to God. This episode talks more about some great points in the practice of presence of God. An invitation to reflect back on who we are, understand or accept our weaknesses and sins. While at the same time, recognize who God is as we surrender everything to Him. You can find the Presence of God challenge in the Hallow App or this link https://app.hallow.com/challenges/51, where you can join in and reflect with Fr. Mark-Mary on The Practice of the Presence of God by Brother Lawrence. 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!
Series on The Practice of the Presence of God (Part 2 of 4) What does a good prayer look like? We don't know.. Everyone has the freedom on how they pray. But thinking about God, reading a book about God and just saying words about God is not praying. Praying is the relationship that brings us in to a conscious living contact with God himself. Everything is at the service of relationship with Him. There's a real person looking back at us in prayer—who loves us and wants to draw us close to his sacred heart. Jesus wants to meet us in that contemplative space and experience his heart there. In relation to Brother Lawrence's Book, this episode talks through some amazing insights on the relational aspect of prayer as well as some logic and application of prayer. An invitation for us to re-evaluate our prayer life which is meant to put us in relationship with God. You can find the Presence of God challenge in the Hallow App or on this link https://app.hallow.com/challenges/51, where you can join in and reflect with Fr. Mark-Mary on The Practice of the Presence of God by Brother Lawrence. 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!
Series on The Practice of the Presence of God (Part 1 of 4) With the abundance of noise in our world, there can be a lot of interruptions to our ongoing conversation and relationship with the God. The habitual, silent and secret conversation we all dream to have with God, all seems to be very difficult to achieve. There's going to be a cost, sacrifice and perseverance. We need to drive away from our minds everything that is capable of interrupting our thought of God. It doesn't overnight nor does it happen easily. Like any dream that we have, we do need to put some work into it in order to make it happen. 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!
Whether we feel it or not—believe it or not, this is our identity. We live as beloved sons and daughters of God. There's a temptation to believe the we have to do something amazing or special to be able to bring the Gospel and Christ to people. But the reality is, the same spirit and the same gifts are given to us in our baptism as Christians and Catholics. All of us are called to bring the Gospel and Christ to people and by participating in this mission we are just being who we are supposed to be. This episode talks more about our identity, the inheritance we have and our mission. A beautiful reminder that the power of Christ is already in us, we just have to embrace it—have faith in it! 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!
We are all beloved sons and daughters of the Father and through our baptism we are all anointed and empowered. We don't have to be all-put-together or be perfect in order to bring healing to ourselves and to other people. We are all incomplete and despite that God wants to work through us—right now. There might be times that we can revert our eyes from our Jesus, or get stuck within ourselves or maybe distracted by the world. At times like this we need to fight a continuous battle to keep looking at Jesus and feed our faith. 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!
Series on The Twelve Steps (Part 3 of 3) God wants to go back into our lives and our stories—and start speaking light, redemption and truth over that. There's the need for us to have a radical opening of our hearts and honesty to what really is happening in our lives. We have to be searching and fearless to admit what's inside our "junk room" and bring that to the Lord. Whatever that makes our lives unmanageable is just a symptom of something else. We not only need to look at the things that make our lives unmanageable but also we look at the things that drives them and the ripple effect that it had caused. This episode focuses on the gift and highlights of the remaining step. 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!
When we struggle it can be really difficult and sometimes we even face impossible situations that may feel like there's no answer. In our poverty, there's the need to admit we're powerless—that life is not okay anymore and figure out what do we do with that. And as we are brought to our knees—utterly defeated. We can let go of ourselves as our own authority and give ourselves to a greater power, to Christ. Only then we can make a daily decision to turn our will to the care of God—say Yes to the connection we have with Him everyday even with all the craziness that's going on. This episode talks about the first three steps of The Twelve Steps that allows the foundation of our lives and our hearts to be set in experiencing renewal and recovery. And it is a reminder that tells us when we can't, Jesus can. We just have to let 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!
Series on 12 Step Wisdom (Part 1 of 3) At some point, our lives are unmanageable and we need help. When we want to turn away from sin and our struggles, we turn to God to save and heal us. We are given clarity to open our eyes and see our life in a new or different way. And while we're accepting reality as it is, we recognize what we can and cannot control, we realize what is asked of us everyday. When we live that reality one moment at a time, that's the time we can accept life in a particular way and enjoy it! This episode talks about the Serenity Prayer and what it means to be in recovery and seek healing and conversion. 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!