Carol Teodori | church

2021 CFR Lawson Flyer.pdf

The Catalyst for Renewal program for 2021 is in the file there ---->

From Out of the Womb

In Fr. Eugene Stockton’s latest writings that I have been privy to read, he asks, “But how does it feel to be a baby just before birth?”. He posed this question as he pondered God’s way of bringing forth created life.

Think about that. Each of us has had the experience of leaving the soft, safe place; being pushed into this tight passage, then being freed into the cold, noisy place; having to breathe on our own, even hearing our own voice, crying. I wonder if we each have a subconscious memory of this experience.

The next sentence has been with me since I first read it. “Life is a series of calls to come out into larger space, a continual tug into transcendence beyond the reality that we know.” Is that not so true? My life has been a constant “call to come out into larger space, a continual tug.” Each invitation requires courage to move beyond my comfort zone. My “yes” has taken me to larger spaces of goodness, truth and beauty.

I recently heard a quote from Basil the Great (328-378 AD), “There are many more annunciations than there are incarnations”. Annunciations are the invitations to birthing something new. The incarnations are the actual birthing—saying ‘yes’ to new life whilst bearing down, panting, pushing and delivering. The joy of making the journey and the memory of that joy enables me to say ‘yes’ again to the “continual tug into transcendence beyond the reality I know.” That birth canal is still a struggle and sometimes I groan and grumble at the length of the labour, but the joy of the goodness, truth and beauty that follows encourages me when the next annunciation comes. Is this God’s way of ‘pushing’ us into greater life.

As I think of my images of God over the years, I realize how much they have changed as I have grown. As I reflect on the images of God that have been reflected upon herein, I am led to think of the Trinity in another way - God is Lover, Beloved and Love, and just recently, God is Goodness, Truth and Beauty.

Thank you, Eugene, for the encouragement to find new words for the living experience of the Spirit of God in our lives.

Carol Teodori

I pray that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ,

the God of glory,

may give you a spirit of wisdom and reflection as you come to know him,

so that with the eyes of your heart enlightened,

you may know what is the hope to which you have been called,

what are the riches of God’s glorious inheritance among the saints,

and what is the immeasurable greatness of God’s power

for us who believe.

Ephesians 1:17-19

What is the hope to which we are called in this chaotic time?

We mourn the loss of the freedom to be with family and friends,
the loss of life that often found the victim dying alone.

Our people are losing jobs and homes, some lonely; some going hungry,

Where do we find the hope to which we have been called?

Can we look “with the eyes of our enlightened hearts”

to see the opportunities to reach out with “the immeasurable greatness of God’s power available to us who believe?”

We don’t have to be anything more than our own authentic selves in the ordinary events of our daily lives to find the opportunity to see with the eyes of our hearts.

We can watch for the opportunities.

I am asking for the grace to live in these times trusting God who is trusting us with that kind of power even when we may feel powerless. Let us encourage one another to be the presence of God in our daily circumstances, finding the hope to which we are called.

Carol Teodori