Full video episode available at: https://youtu.be/14_MowgxTyQ

The fullness of the mission of Christ includes a heart for the poor. This is pretty central, actually, but somehow doesn’t always get a lot of airtime.

This isn’t just something we do, but who we are. It’s not just a Christian thing—this is being like Jesus.

And even once that heart is developed and the desire is there… the how can be unclear. How do we live the Gospel this way?

In this episode: examining our heart for the poor, and how to live this out in everyday life. How to love like Jesus.

Get your copy of Habits for Holiness (by Fr Mark-Mary Ames, CFR!) at https://ascensionpress.com/habits

The Poco a Poco podcast happens because of generous donors like you. You can give at https://spiritjuice.org/supportpoco. Thank you!

In our world of wanting more and of endlessly upgrading, we have to get good at saying, “Ok, that’s enough.” There’s a game of constant consumption and if we’re not careful, it’s going to take advantage of us. Don’t get played!

Simplicity isn’t about getting rid of everything. It’s saying “no” to things you need to say “no” to—creating a space where you’re not controlled by things.

How? A poverty check. A regular practice of examining everything to see what really needs to stay and what can go; a regular challenge to take an honest look at what we’re clinging to and what we can let go of.

Get your copy of Habits for Holiness (by Fr Mark-Mary Ames, CFR) at https://ascensionpress.com/habits

The Poco a Poco podcast happens because of generous donors like you. You can give at https://spiritjuice.org/supportpoco. Thank you!

Get your copy of Habits for Holiness (by Fr Mark-Mary Ames, CFR!) at https://ascensionpress.com/habits

The Poco a Poco podcast happens because of generous donors like you. You can give at https://spiritjuice.org/supportpoco. Thank you!

Ever try to connect with the person right in front of you… but he or she is staring at a phone, totally preoccupied? You want to jump in and say, “Look up! Look at me.”

How often are we those preoccupied people in prayer?

We have to be real about attachment. Whether we like it or not, our humanity is into stuff. In our weakness, we can get attached to stuff, which can serve us or not serve us. It’s a burden.

Instead: lean into the freedom of simplicity, at the service of intimacy.

We only have so much emotional and spiritual energy throughout the day. And after all—the lilies don’t get up in the morning and have to pick out their nicest dresses. Can we give God our full attention by being less cluttered in our thinking or our environments?

Get your copy of Habits for Holiness (by Fr Mark-Mary Ames, CFR!) at https://ascensionpress.com/habits

The Poco a Poco podcast happens because of generous donors like you. You can give at https://spiritjuice.org/supportpoco. Thank you!

VIDEO now available! Watch on Spirit Juice’s YouTube channel at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v_wJgfHG1sI

As Christians, what does our free time look like? Do we prioritize the same things as the world? Is there any difference in how we spend our time and money and attention?

Those who know Jesus live differently. In important things, and in ordinary, everyday things. We’re talking about the kind of mindset that changes the most important thing about Friday from "End of the Work Week!" to "The Day Our Lord Suffered and Died For Us."

It can be a struggle to feel like everything is ordinary… but God wants to encounter us in that ordinary and make it extraordinary.

Get your copy of Habits for Holiness (by Fr Mark-Mary Ames, CFR!) at https://ascensionpress.com/habits

The Poco a Poco podcast happens because of generous donors like you. You can give at https://spiritjuice.org/supportpoco. Thank you!

VIDEO now available! Watch on Spirit Juice’s YouTube channel at https://youtu.be/dZ78lBznd_s

Love your enemies.

AND love that one person who embodies every single one of your pet peeves and always seems to find the fastest way to most intensely annoy you.

Each person’s personality—our most and least favourite parts—is gift, and it’s all about how we receive the uniqueness of each person in his or her personality. Each trait speaks an aspect of God’s heart.

Accepting everyone as they are isn’t always easy… but it’s easier than being surprised and rattled every time they do that one thing over and over and over again. It’s more than that, though; when we accept people, they have the freedom to be themselves. After all, unity is not uniformity.

It’s scary to give people permission to be themselves. Maybe the Lord is asking you to expand your heart to fit them in it.

Get your copy of Habits for Holiness (by Fr Mark-Mary Ames, CFR!) at https://ascensionpress.com/habits

The Poco a Poco podcast happens because of generous donors like you. You can give at https://spiritjuice.org/supportpoco. Thank you!

We have some pretty strong feelings on this topic… and it shows in this week’s episode.

The most important thing you’ll bring to your vocation—whether that’s religious life or family life—is your capacity to be a man or woman of communion.

Passing through purgatory is the experience that prepares us for heaven. There’s no greater insight into what purgatory is like than family life or community life.

This applies directly to mission, too. We can be obsessed with mission at the cost of communion… and that’s when your mission will dry up because it’s no longer connected to the vine.

So what does it mean to be a man or woman of communion? What does a life like that look like? We get into all of it in this conversation.

Get your copy of Habits for Holiness (by Fr Mark-Mary Ames, CFR!) at https://ascensionpress.com/habits

The Poco a Poco podcast happens because of generous donors like you. You can give at https://spiritjuice.org/supportpoco. Thank you!

Discipleship is a team sport. Family—both through our natural families, and our supernatural family through baptism—and communion with others is an essential ingredient to the Christian life.

Not that it will be easy… it won’t be. It is simple, but not easy. An encounter with family lived well is redeeming not because it’s perfect, but because there’s love and sacrifice in the midst of the mess. That’s where healing is, especially if your experience of family has been painful in some way.

And truly, if the mention of “family” is painful for you, know this: God wants to break through and redeem that. The bond through baptism is real and deep—this family is not second best; not a consolation prize. Blood is thicker than water, but grace is thicker than blood.

“Lord, help me to see today how you’re going to reveal yourself in my family.”

Get your copy of Habits for Holiness (by Fr Mark-Mary Ames, CFR!) at https://ascensionpress.com/habits

The Poco a Poco podcast happens because of generous donors like you. You can give at https://spiritjuice.org/supportpoco. Thank you!

It’s key to commit to prayer; to schedule it and keep honor it through intention and discipline. But, then, how do we maintain prayer as an intimate relationship and not let it become a routine?

The answer to one question: where’s your heart in it?

Going through the motions to get it done is not the point. You know… when you finish your prayer time, look up, and think what just happened? It’s better, even, to do less with a whole heart than to try to do more while totally disconnected.

Even if you’re not in a good place to pray—tired, hungry, whatever—be honest about that and bring that to prayer. Because just like you can tell when somebody’s totally checked out of a conversation (nodding, “uh huh, yup”), the Lord knows our hearts. He can tell. Talk to him instead about why you’re distracted or angry or not in it; that’s where he wants to be.

Simply be still, and with your whole heart, say “Jesus, look at my heart.”

Do you know anybody who wants to work out *every* time? Unlikely. But nobody who gets in that workout says afterwards, “That was a waste of time. Why’d I bother?”

Even more with prayer. When you take the time, it’s always, “I’m so glad I did that.”

Eternal perspective changes how you use your time. What are we made for? To live forever. Our decisions now have an effect on that. We’re made to be fully alive starting now.

When you grow in prayer, your heart grows in capacity. And you take that capacity—an expansive heart with deep desires—with you to heaven. Let God expand your heart.

Get your copy of Habits for Holiness (by Fr Mark-Mary Ames, CFR!) at https://ascensionpress.com/habits

The Poco a Poco podcast happens because of generous donors like you. You can give at https://spiritjuice.org/pocoapoco. Thank you!

You crave conversion and real change; to receive the healing and hope that God wants to give you. How does that lasting, long-term change happen?

It happens when we accept some truth or let go of some lie. Each step forms our will, either strengthening it or weakening it. And the stronger our will, the more we’ll be able to choose the good even when it’s hard and resist the evil even when it’s tempting.

This change can start in an instant, but the long-term forming of the will happens slowly, over time and over many, many choices — choices that might seem small, but matter. Deeply.

Because we’re not kids anymore. Choices have consequences and all those moments make up the battle for our hearts and our minds. Our lives. This is it!

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We’re all really interested in what God can do for us; the healing, the restoration, the gifts of the Father. Are we as interested in committing to the long term relationship that allows us to receive all of that?

It’s all too easy to spend the inheritance while overlooking the relationship.

As sons and daughters of God, we’re meant to live from the inside of Jesus’ heart. Not as outsiders or coworkers or bystanders, but within, where we can experience being known and seen and loved by the Father. That’s discipleship.

Because life is demanding, and the only thing that makes your vocation and your ministry sustainable is through a receiving relationship with the Father. That relationship transforms you into an instrument of God. Without that relationship, it’s just too hard.

Be courageous in making time for prayer, for the Word of God — making time for the beloved.

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St Francis is the rich young man who didn’t turn away sad. God invited St Francis, and his response was even more than his heart burning for the Lord — he was consumed. There was no going back.

He became more like Jesus, but without being less like Francis. He became more like Francis; not losing himself in God, but finding himself in God. The unique man that he is in the eyes of the Father, not just repeating the works of other saints.

Our hearts have such a capacity that we want more and more… which means that at some point, you leave behind some lesser goods. You develop a taste for a love that’s greater, and that’s a good thing. Francis didn’t settle for anything less — and neither should you.

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We have a God who’s always on the move, always pursuing. In our busyness, we’re distracted — we miss things. We miss people. But God is constantly seeking, constantly encountering what is broken and seeing the wholeness.

Christianity is different: it’s about God becoming Man and coming to us.

He’s looking for you. Let yourself be found.

For the next few episodes, we’re focusing on Habits for Holiness, a new book written by our own Fr Mark-Mary. You can find it at ascensionpress.com/habits

We now have video! Watch this full episode on facebook.com/spiritjuice, instagram.com/spiritjuice, youtube.com/c/SpiritJuice.

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Jesus has a wounded human heart; he allowed himself to be fully wounded this way. If it had only been his hands or feet, he would’ve survived.

How do we allow ourselves to be wounded for him? My sacrifices thus far are survivable. I could still be intact on my own. He gave us everything; we can’t turn back.

Evangelical chastity is the full, total gift of your heart, which is set on fire with love for God and for one another.

Jesus teaches us a new way to love on the cross — one that lines up with our desires. We want to love differently, but we’re tempted to settle. There’s a real fear in getting our hopes up.

The Father wants you to get your hopes up.

Set your hopes high for intimacy — for the union and the love that is possible.

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Obedience isn’t something being snatched from you; it’s about willingly offering the gift of your freedom. It comes from great humility, a bold statement that “I’m not in charge of my life. I’m not God.” It’s recognizing that we don’t have all the answers, and God really knows what is best for us.

So wherever Jesus is, wherever he’s leading you: go there. Stay there. Choose to go there... don't get dragged! Don’t back off, don’t fill it with other things. Stay focused on him on the cross.

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