July 26, 2024 • 21 mins
Have you ever wondered how even the smallest acts can ripple out and create significant impacts?
In this episode, Melissa has a conversation with Marycelis Otero, a candidate for Holy Orders to the Priesthood in The Diocese of Atlanta. Marycelis shares how viewing life through a faith-based lens can transform our seemingly minor contributions into monumental movements. By drawing parallels to the biblical story of the feeding of the 5,000, she reveals how each of us possesses unique gifts that can be harnessed to serve a greater purpose in God's plan. Listen in for the full conversation.
Marycelis Otero is a Candidate for the Holy Orders to the Priesthood in The Diocese of Atlanta. Originally from the Islands of Puerto Rico, Marycelis is in the final year of her Masters in Divinity for the Episcopal and Anglican Studies Program at Emory's Candler School of Theology. She also has a Bachelor’s Degree in Science in Mass Communications Technologies with a minor in Strategic Communications. In her career, Marycelis has worked as Associate Producer for Day1, a ministry of the Alliance for Christian Media. She has supported the Office of Ethnic Ministries of The Episcopal Church, and she is the translator for the For Faith Devotional. Currently, Marycelis serves as a seminarian at Holy Innocents' Episcopal Church, where she supports both the English and Spanish-speaking populations. Marycelis enjoys listening to audiobooks, watching movies, and especially investing her time creating experiences with her husband and their sons.
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Episode Transcript
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Marycelis (00:00):
Sometimes in our life we can think that we only can
bring just a little bit to thetable and we see all the
different things that aresurrounding us and we don't know
how we can make a difference.
But in Scripture the Lordalways used humans.
He always used our intercessionand our actions to make glory.
(00:22):
So even the small things thatwe think that we can add it can
create a big movement.
Melissa (00:30):
This is For People with Bishop Rob Wright.
Well, hello everyone.
I'm Melissa Rau, your host, andthis is For People with Bishop
Rob Wright.
Thanks for tuning in to thissummer's Summer Shorts, where
we'll be having conversationswith guests from across the
(00:51):
Episcopal Diocese of Atlanta,who prepared short devotions on
behalf of Bishop Rob's For Faithdevotion, sent out every Friday
.
This week we're joinedMarycelis Otero, who happens to
be a candidate for the HolyOrders of Priesthood with Holy
Innocents' in Sandy Springs,Marycelis, welcome.
Marycelis (01:12):
Good afternoon, good morning and blessings on every
time that you want to hear us.
Melissa (01:17):
That's great, you Marycelis, , before we get
started.
First of all, being a candidatefor Holy Orders, for Fancy Talk
, that means that Mary Sellishas discerned a call to ordained
ministry and is being prepared,I believe at Candler, to become
a priest in the EpiscopalChurch, and I'm pretty sure,
edgar, your husband has been aguest on For
Marycelis (01:53):
Yes, I have been the Spanish voice of For Faith.
Melissa (01:59):
Yay.
Marycelis, why don't you tellus just a little bit about who
you are, what brings you to theDiocese of Atlanta, and Holy
Orders and all the things?
Marycelis (02:10):
Well, I am Puerto Rican.
I'm born and raised in PuertoRico.
I moved to the States in 2007.
And I grew up with the callingof becoming a priest for
bringing Christ to our peopleand bringing his love to our
nations.
I am currently a senior atCanLearn like judges, just do
(02:32):
like say, my first education.
I have a bachelor's in scienceof technologies of radio,
television and communications.
So the Lord has been moving meand preparing me in many ways,
but the calling was always feedand surround and love all his
people.
So here I am.
Melissa (02:54):
I love it.
You're a mom of two boys.
Marycelis (02:56):
How old are they?
I have an 18-year-old.
His name is Iliam, he's asenior and a 14 that thinks that
he's 48.
And he's a junior this year.
So both my boys are going tothe same high school together.
Melissa (03:09):
That's very convenient.
That's great.
Marycelis, thank you so muchfor joining us.
Friends, mary Celis prepared adevotion that she calls gifts,
based off of John, chapter six,verses 1 through 14, which is
all about the feeding of the5,000.
And so your unique take on thisyou really pulled out and
(03:32):
highlighted the fact that Jesususes our gifts to make our gifts
even more.
That's a very crude summary, Ithink, of what you wrote.
Do you want to just share alittle bit about what was on
your heart when you werepreparing your devotion?
Marycelis (03:48):
Sometimes in our life we can think that we only can
bring just a little bit to thetable and we see all the
different things that aresurrounding us and we don't know
how we can make a difference.
But in scripture the Lordalways used humans.
He always used our intercessionand our actions to make glory.
(04:11):
So even the small things thatwe think that we can add, it can
create a big movement and thatcan help and support the ones
that are needed the most.
So it's important that we canunderstand that just the little
things that we are, the littlethings that we have, it can be
(04:33):
used greatly, because we neverknow how big the Lord has His
plans with our gifts, and inother parts of the scripture it
talks about how we're going tobe giving gifts and we need to
invest them and multiply them,and that's part also on this we
(04:53):
are being given.
Each one of us is special andis uniquely built in our mom's
womb and we are born with acalling and that calling is to
come, support and surroundeverybody that comes around us.
And we are born with a callingand that's that calling is to
come, support and surroundeverybody that comes around us,
and I think that is theimportance of us stepping into
faith and allowing God to usethe little that we have for the
(05:17):
greater glory.
Melissa (05:19):
I love that.
I love that so much.
And if I, if I recall, just acouple of weeks ago I heard a
sermon.
Actually, it was given by myhusband, who is also I love this
, Both of us are married topriests and we're both in
discernment to also becomepriests, which is a really funny
thing.
Marycelis (05:39):
I'm here with you, sister, I know, I know.
Melissa (05:41):
So he preached a sermon too and kind of highlighted I
think it was the part of Markthat book ends, the feed, that
Mark's accounting of the feedingof the 5,000.
And it's where Jesus reallydidn't have much power in his
own, like he was a Nazareth, andthen and then they crossed the
the, the sea of Galilee, to gobe by themselves for rest sake
(06:03):
and prayer sake, and then ofcourse the feeding of the 5,000
happened between the lectionaryreadings and they didn't go into
it because of course it showsup in John.
I'm just I'm struck by Jesus'sinability and I don't want to
say inability, but really hispower was diminished, I think,
(06:24):
because belief has a lot ofthings to do with manifesting
power to make miracles happen.
I don't know, At least that wasthe interpretation and I
thought it was pretty cool.
I'm curious about what youthink about gifts.
So you talk about investing inyour gifts, and what gifts and
belief, how they are related.
(06:45):
How do gifts and belief go handin hand?
Marycelis (06:49):
We have in our tradition of faith every Sunday
we're going to hear the phrasewhen we're getting close to the
Eucharist and when we are partof the Eucharistic part of the
liturgy the gifts of God for thepeople of God, and sometimes we
(07:11):
think that those gifts aremerely the bread and the wine,
but it's everything that isgiven to us.
So if you know how to dosomething, it's your
responsibility to do it rightand to give it right.
That gave me goosebumps.
It has been given to you forfree to be used upon your
(07:36):
brothers and sisters that needyou.
So when you have a gift, like I, like many things I have, like
(08:10):
the use of the ones, that areunder your charge.
Melissa (08:11):
I love that.
So you also talked aboutinvesting in gifts, and I'm
curious about ways that you haveseen the discernment of gifts
go well in community.
Marycelis (08:22):
Yeah, so we are all together, but not together
together.
Let me let me I I I am aneurodivergent mind, so I have
many ideas running at the sametime.
But imagine that you see a vineof grapes.
All of them are together by thevine, but they're separated on
(08:43):
each one of them are together bythe vine, but they're separated
on each one of them.
So each one of them, just likethe body, has a function, and if
part of the body doesn'tfunction, or if part of the
grape vine is not being takencare of, the rest suffer, the
(09:13):
rest suffer.
So when we are able to discoverin community and when we are
able to see that we do have thatgift, it is important that we
polish that and we make thatwork in a way that it could be
useful.
Like, for example, I have beenspeaking English since 2007.
My way to invest in that, myway to be multilingual, is
(09:34):
continually listening to newthings so I can invest in bigger
words, so I can invest andtrain my vocabulary so it could
be used for the good of ourpeople.
I had a challenge myself, andmy challenge is that I, because
(09:54):
I am neurodivergent, I learnbetter by listening.
So I challenged myself with anapp that I have that, because we
have 52 weeks, I'm going tolisten to 52 books.
Wow, because I want to investin that and the gift that I have
been receiving, that I havebeen given.
(10:17):
I wanted to make it greater soI can help the ones that need me
.
Melissa (10:22):
I love that, Marycelis.
I want to talk more aboutexpanding our gifts when we're
back after this short break.
(10:47):
Welcome back to For People.
Maryc elis, let's talk aboutthe feeding of the 5,000, shall
we like?
I mean, to me, it's always.
I love miracle stories.
I love all the miracle storiesin the Bible, but this one's
kind of a good one, and I reallylove how you you kind of
highlighted the fact that it'sgifts.
You know, with our gifts areonly made bigger.
(11:10):
So I happen to understand thatyou right now are in what we
call CPE, clinical pastoraleducation.
It's mandatory for people inthe Episcopal church who become
priests, and you're walkingalongside people and you don't
have to share their stories.
I am curious, though, how youthink, specifically, gifts are
(11:33):
made greater with the power offaith and belief and hope in God
specifically.
Marycelis (11:43):
One of my prayers during this process.
I am on a trauma one hospitaland I am running between three
towers and each one of thetowers has seven floors, and I
also have a psychiatric hospitalthat is attached to it.
I have been praying all thistime that I'm able to see the
(12:03):
face of Jesus and not be sopreoccupied that I miss him.
Able to see the face of Jesusand not be so preoccupied that I
miss him, and it was scary atfirst, but I needed to be humble
enough to bring myself andoffer me.
You never know what's going tohappen when you open the door
(12:25):
and what situations are they'regoing through, but we have to
become an arc in which we cancarry them through the process
and we can be part of thesolution of their issues.
As soon as I close the doors, Itake out my Episcopalian hat
and I'm just vested on the bloodof Jesus, and every single one
(12:46):
of them is part of my kids, sothey become my child and that
mother love that is one of thethings that I believe has helped
me.
People that know me know thatone of the things that I love
the most is being a mom to mysons, and my gift is giving that
(13:12):
mother love when it's needed,in the silence and in the
sterile the sterile environmentthat you can encounter at a
hospital.
Melissa (13:25):
Yeah.
What miracles have you seen inyour work using your gifts?
Marycelis (13:32):
Wow, I just encountered a birth today.
Wow, we I cannot share most forthat because of the HIPAA law,
but I was.
One of my floors is labor anddelivery and I was blessed to be
(13:53):
part of a birth of a baby.
And it's just the little things, it's just the walking with
them.
I work with complicated births,with moms that have, you know,
their babies have differentissues, and it's just walking
day by day and just buildingthat confidence until they allow
(14:16):
me to be with them.
So having that reassurance that, even though we have questions
that we may never get answers,god is carrying us through the
process.
Melissa (14:32):
Yeah, which leads me to my next question.
Then you know, cpe can bepretty raw and, from what I
understand, cpe folks are comingalongside patients and really
providing them pastoral care insome of the most vulnerable and
intimate settings, with loss andjoy and difficult, difficult
(14:57):
things right, but you're withpeople at their most vulnerable.
I'm curious what you think hopeis about.
Yes, how hope?
Is hope necessary?
Is hope coming within or is ita pouring into?
Is it both?
And how might we give othershope?
Marycelis (15:24):
Hope is a gift that is proof and is basically grown
just like diamonds.
We go through things in ourlives and those things that are
hard and they're difficultprepare us to go and walk on the
(15:46):
road, and I believe that thoseexperiences, when you enter to
the doors in a hospital setting,comes handy because they can
allow you to look at the eyes ofsomeone and say I have been in
(16:08):
a position similar to you and Ican make sure I make, let you
know that you can do this.
You know and and it's just apart of of understanding that
sometimes we go through thingsin life and we might not
understand them at the moment,but years from now, years now,
(16:32):
they're going to be used forGod's glory.
I have a lot of experience inmy life that has made me the way
I am, and I can tell you thatone of the experiences that I
can share is like seven days ago, I sit down with a woman that I
have been waiting for for 15years.
(16:52):
Sit down with a woman that Ihave been waiting for for 15
years, and I was able to put aface to the pain that I endured
and I was able to hold her handand I was able to tell you.
I went through the things thatyou're going through.
You're going to make it.
You're going to make it.
Melissa (17:14):
You're going to make it .
I love that.
I think one of my favoritelines in your devotion is this
you said for what is given withlove is pleasing in the eyes of
God, and God will multiply thefruits of your hands, no matter
how small you think they are.
That's kind of power rightthere.
God will multiply the fruits ofyour hands, no matter how small
(17:38):
you think they are, kind oflike the boy in this story who
has five loaves and two fish.
Marycelis (17:46):
That was a Lunchable of the time, so Lunchable.
Melissa (17:51):
I love that.
Marycelis (17:52):
He was with this little Lunchable.
Melissa (17:53):
It's like okay, there you go so what does love have to
do with it then?
Marycelis (18:01):
love is Jesus.
You know, basically, I believethe entire gospel just resume in
that word and we allowing loveto grow within ourselves will
make things possible, even whenwe don't see it.
It's just like the size of themustard seed.
Like you know, granito demostaza.
(18:22):
You know, like we praysometimes in church, the Lord
will give force, will givestrength to the one that doesn't
have it.
Give force, will give strengthto the one that doesn't have it.
So, just by following what hesaid, love your neighbor as
yourself.
By just adding love to theequation, by just remembering
(18:46):
that we all come from the sameenergy, which is God, and one
day we're going to see one faceto face with God.
So by just adding that thatlove, like Jesus loved us, we
can change this world.
Melissa (19:02):
Amen, Marycelis, , thank you.
I am curious about how peoplediscern their gifts and the
process that you're goingthrough right now.
How do you anticipate usingyour gifts to create maybe, even
if they're small, miracles inyour future ministry?
Is there a daily practice orsomething that you do to
(19:27):
continue to discerning orinvesting in the gifts that are
even like revealed to you inyour discernment process?
Marycelis (19:36):
Every day I do my morning prayers, especially
going through the hospital.
There's many not only physicalbattles, but there's a lot of
spiritual battles.
You see the angel of life anddeath dancing around the
hospital and that'smetaphorically.
But it's important to be readyand to be centered and to be
(19:59):
prepared and also remember thatevery single Sunday and every
single time that we have space,we can go to the table and dress
ourselves and receive that holycommunion, that holy bread and
that holy blood that is going tobe talked to in the other week,
(20:20):
Because Jesus is that bread oflife, that continuous
relationship with God and justtalking to Him and just
surrounding yourself.
Your good days and your not sogood days is part of that
(20:42):
process.
You know, and it's done betterwhen you have a community of
faith, when you surroundyourself with people that loves
on you and that also covers youin prayers.
I am standing here because ofthe many people that love me and
because of the many people thathave been praying for me for
years, because we are one familyof faith.
Melissa (21:06):
Amen to that.
And Marycelis, I am so gratefulfor you.
I'm grateful for the manyministries that you bring to
life.
I'm especially grateful for theways that you help for faith
come alive through your greattranslation, all of the gifts
that you bring to the Diocese ofAtlanta and this entire
Episcopal Church.
I'm grateful for you and allthe things.
(21:27):
Thank you so much for joiningus and listeners.
We're grateful to you fortuning in to Four People.
You can follow us on Instagramand Facebook at Bishop Rob
Wright.
Please subscribe, leave areview and we'll be back with
you next week.
Sometimes in our life we can think that we only can
bring just a little bit to thetable and we see all the
different things that aresurrounding us and we don't know
how we can make a difference.
But in Scripture the Lordalways used humans.
He always used our intercessionand our actions to make glory.
(00:22):
So even the small things thatwe think that we can add it can
create a big movement.
Melissa (00:30):
This is For People with Bishop Rob Wright.
Well, hello everyone.
I'm Melissa Rau, your host, andthis is For People with Bishop
Rob Wright.
Thanks for tuning in to thissummer's Summer Shorts, where
we'll be having conversationswith guests from across the
(00:51):
Episcopal Diocese of Atlanta,who prepared short devotions on
behalf of Bishop Rob's For Faithdevotion, sent out every Friday
.
This week we're joinedMarycelis Otero, who happens to
be a candidate for the HolyOrders of Priesthood with Holy
Innocents' in Sandy Springs,Marycelis, welcome.
Marycelis (01:12):
Good afternoon, good morning and blessings on every
time that you want to hear us.
Melissa (01:17):
That's great, you Marycelis, , before we get
started.
First of all, being a candidatefor Holy Orders, for Fancy Talk
, that means that Mary Sellishas discerned a call to ordained
ministry and is being prepared,I believe at Candler, to become
a priest in the EpiscopalChurch, and I'm pretty sure,
edgar, your husband has been aguest on For
Marycelis (01:53):
Yes, I have been the Spanish voice of For Faith.
Melissa (01:59):
Yay.
Marycelis, why don't you tellus just a little bit about who
you are, what brings you to theDiocese of Atlanta, and Holy
Orders and all the things?
Marycelis (02:10):
Well, I am Puerto Rican.
I'm born and raised in PuertoRico.
I moved to the States in 2007.
And I grew up with the callingof becoming a priest for
bringing Christ to our peopleand bringing his love to our
nations.
I am currently a senior atCanLearn like judges, just do
(02:32):
like say, my first education.
I have a bachelor's in scienceof technologies of radio,
television and communications.
So the Lord has been moving meand preparing me in many ways,
but the calling was always feedand surround and love all his
people.
So here I am.
Melissa (02:54):
I love it.
You're a mom of two boys.
Marycelis (02:56):
How old are they?
I have an 18-year-old.
His name is Iliam, he's asenior and a 14 that thinks that
he's 48.
And he's a junior this year.
So both my boys are going tothe same high school together.
Melissa (03:09):
That's very convenient.
That's great.
Marycelis, thank you so muchfor joining us.
Friends, mary Celis prepared adevotion that she calls gifts,
based off of John, chapter six,verses 1 through 14, which is
all about the feeding of the5,000.
And so your unique take on thisyou really pulled out and
(03:32):
highlighted the fact that Jesususes our gifts to make our gifts
even more.
That's a very crude summary, Ithink, of what you wrote.
Do you want to just share alittle bit about what was on
your heart when you werepreparing your devotion?
Marycelis (03:48):
Sometimes in our life we can think that we only can
bring just a little bit to thetable and we see all the
different things that aresurrounding us and we don't know
how we can make a difference.
But in scripture the Lordalways used humans.
He always used our intercessionand our actions to make glory.
(04:11):
So even the small things thatwe think that we can add, it can
create a big movement and thatcan help and support the ones
that are needed the most.
So it's important that we canunderstand that just the little
things that we are, the littlethings that we have, it can be
(04:33):
used greatly, because we neverknow how big the Lord has His
plans with our gifts, and inother parts of the scripture it
talks about how we're going tobe giving gifts and we need to
invest them and multiply them,and that's part also on this we
(04:53):
are being given.
Each one of us is special andis uniquely built in our mom's
womb and we are born with acalling and that calling is to
come, support and surroundeverybody that comes around us.
And we are born with a callingand that's that calling is to
come, support and surroundeverybody that comes around us,
and I think that is theimportance of us stepping into
faith and allowing God to usethe little that we have for the
(05:17):
greater glory.
Melissa (05:19):
I love that.
I love that so much.
And if I, if I recall, just acouple of weeks ago I heard a
sermon.
Actually, it was given by myhusband, who is also I love this
, Both of us are married topriests and we're both in
discernment to also becomepriests, which is a really funny
thing.
Marycelis (05:39):
I'm here with you, sister, I know, I know.
Melissa (05:41):
So he preached a sermon too and kind of highlighted I
think it was the part of Markthat book ends, the feed, that
Mark's accounting of the feedingof the 5,000.
And it's where Jesus reallydidn't have much power in his
own, like he was a Nazareth, andthen and then they crossed the
the, the sea of Galilee, to gobe by themselves for rest sake
(06:03):
and prayer sake, and then ofcourse the feeding of the 5,000
happened between the lectionaryreadings and they didn't go into
it because of course it showsup in John.
I'm just I'm struck by Jesus'sinability and I don't want to
say inability, but really hispower was diminished, I think,
(06:24):
because belief has a lot ofthings to do with manifesting
power to make miracles happen.
I don't know, At least that wasthe interpretation and I
thought it was pretty cool.
I'm curious about what youthink about gifts.
So you talk about investing inyour gifts, and what gifts and
belief, how they are related.
(06:45):
How do gifts and belief go handin hand?
Marycelis (06:49):
We have in our tradition of faith every Sunday
we're going to hear the phrasewhen we're getting close to the
Eucharist and when we are partof the Eucharistic part of the
liturgy the gifts of God for thepeople of God, and sometimes we
(07:11):
think that those gifts aremerely the bread and the wine,
but it's everything that isgiven to us.
So if you know how to dosomething, it's your
responsibility to do it rightand to give it right.
That gave me goosebumps.
It has been given to you forfree to be used upon your
(07:36):
brothers and sisters that needyou.
So when you have a gift, like I, like many things I have, like
(08:10):
the use of the ones, that areunder your charge.
Melissa (08:11):
I love that.
So you also talked aboutinvesting in gifts, and I'm
curious about ways that you haveseen the discernment of gifts
go well in community.
Marycelis (08:22):
Yeah, so we are all together, but not together
together.
Let me let me I I I am aneurodivergent mind, so I have
many ideas running at the sametime.
But imagine that you see a vineof grapes.
All of them are together by thevine, but they're separated on
(08:43):
each one of them are together bythe vine, but they're separated
on each one of them.
So each one of them, just likethe body, has a function, and if
part of the body doesn'tfunction, or if part of the
grape vine is not being takencare of, the rest suffer, the
(09:13):
rest suffer.
So when we are able to discoverin community and when we are
able to see that we do have thatgift, it is important that we
polish that and we make thatwork in a way that it could be
useful.
Like, for example, I have beenspeaking English since 2007.
My way to invest in that, myway to be multilingual, is
(09:34):
continually listening to newthings so I can invest in bigger
words, so I can invest andtrain my vocabulary so it could
be used for the good of ourpeople.
I had a challenge myself, andmy challenge is that I, because
(09:54):
I am neurodivergent, I learnbetter by listening.
So I challenged myself with anapp that I have that, because we
have 52 weeks, I'm going tolisten to 52 books.
Wow, because I want to investin that and the gift that I have
been receiving, that I havebeen given.
(10:17):
I wanted to make it greater soI can help the ones that need me
.
Melissa (10:22):
I love that, Marycelis.
I want to talk more aboutexpanding our gifts when we're
back after this short break.
(10:47):
Welcome back to For People.
Maryc elis, let's talk aboutthe feeding of the 5,000, shall
we like?
I mean, to me, it's always.
I love miracle stories.
I love all the miracle storiesin the Bible, but this one's
kind of a good one, and I reallylove how you you kind of
highlighted the fact that it'sgifts.
You know, with our gifts areonly made bigger.
(11:10):
So I happen to understand thatyou right now are in what we
call CPE, clinical pastoraleducation.
It's mandatory for people inthe Episcopal church who become
priests, and you're walkingalongside people and you don't
have to share their stories.
I am curious, though, how youthink, specifically, gifts are
(11:33):
made greater with the power offaith and belief and hope in God
specifically.
Marycelis (11:43):
One of my prayers during this process.
I am on a trauma one hospitaland I am running between three
towers and each one of thetowers has seven floors, and I
also have a psychiatric hospitalthat is attached to it.
I have been praying all thistime that I'm able to see the
(12:03):
face of Jesus and not be sopreoccupied that I miss him.
Able to see the face of Jesusand not be so preoccupied that I
miss him, and it was scary atfirst, but I needed to be humble
enough to bring myself andoffer me.
You never know what's going tohappen when you open the door
(12:25):
and what situations are they'regoing through, but we have to
become an arc in which we cancarry them through the process
and we can be part of thesolution of their issues.
As soon as I close the doors, Itake out my Episcopalian hat
and I'm just vested on the bloodof Jesus, and every single one
(12:46):
of them is part of my kids, sothey become my child and that
mother love that is one of thethings that I believe has helped
me.
People that know me know thatone of the things that I love
the most is being a mom to mysons, and my gift is giving that
(13:12):
mother love when it's needed,in the silence and in the
sterile the sterile environmentthat you can encounter at a
hospital.
Melissa (13:25):
Yeah.
What miracles have you seen inyour work using your gifts?
Marycelis (13:32):
Wow, I just encountered a birth today.
Wow, we I cannot share most forthat because of the HIPAA law,
but I was.
One of my floors is labor anddelivery and I was blessed to be
(13:53):
part of a birth of a baby.
And it's just the little things, it's just the walking with
them.
I work with complicated births,with moms that have, you know,
their babies have differentissues, and it's just walking
day by day and just buildingthat confidence until they allow
(14:16):
me to be with them.
So having that reassurance that, even though we have questions
that we may never get answers,god is carrying us through the
process.
Melissa (14:32):
Yeah, which leads me to my next question.
Then you know, cpe can bepretty raw and, from what I
understand, cpe folks are comingalongside patients and really
providing them pastoral care insome of the most vulnerable and
intimate settings, with loss andjoy and difficult, difficult
(14:57):
things right, but you're withpeople at their most vulnerable.
I'm curious what you think hopeis about.
Yes, how hope?
Is hope necessary?
Is hope coming within or is ita pouring into?
Is it both?
And how might we give othershope?
Marycelis (15:24):
Hope is a gift that is proof and is basically grown
just like diamonds.
We go through things in ourlives and those things that are
hard and they're difficultprepare us to go and walk on the
(15:46):
road, and I believe that thoseexperiences, when you enter to
the doors in a hospital setting,comes handy because they can
allow you to look at the eyes ofsomeone and say I have been in
(16:08):
a position similar to you and Ican make sure I make, let you
know that you can do this.
You know and and it's just apart of of understanding that
sometimes we go through thingsin life and we might not
understand them at the moment,but years from now, years now,
(16:32):
they're going to be used forGod's glory.
I have a lot of experience inmy life that has made me the way
I am, and I can tell you thatone of the experiences that I
can share is like seven days ago, I sit down with a woman that I
have been waiting for for 15years.
(16:52):
Sit down with a woman that Ihave been waiting for for 15
years, and I was able to put aface to the pain that I endured
and I was able to hold her handand I was able to tell you.
I went through the things thatyou're going through.
You're going to make it.
You're going to make it.
Melissa (17:14):
You're going to make it .
I love that.
I think one of my favoritelines in your devotion is this
you said for what is given withlove is pleasing in the eyes of
God, and God will multiply thefruits of your hands, no matter
how small you think they are.
That's kind of power rightthere.
God will multiply the fruits ofyour hands, no matter how small
(17:38):
you think they are, kind oflike the boy in this story who
has five loaves and two fish.
Marycelis (17:46):
That was a Lunchable of the time, so Lunchable.
Melissa (17:51):
I love that.
Marycelis (17:52):
He was with this little Lunchable.
Melissa (17:53):
It's like okay, there you go so what does love have to
do with it then?
Marycelis (18:01):
love is Jesus.
You know, basically, I believethe entire gospel just resume in
that word and we allowing loveto grow within ourselves will
make things possible, even whenwe don't see it.
It's just like the size of themustard seed.
Like you know, granito demostaza.
(18:22):
You know, like we praysometimes in church, the Lord
will give force, will givestrength to the one that doesn't
have it.
Give force, will give strengthto the one that doesn't have it.
So, just by following what hesaid, love your neighbor as
yourself.
By just adding love to theequation, by just remembering
(18:46):
that we all come from the sameenergy, which is God, and one
day we're going to see one faceto face with God.
So by just adding that thatlove, like Jesus loved us, we
can change this world.
Melissa (19:02):
Amen, Marycelis, , thank you.
I am curious about how peoplediscern their gifts and the
process that you're goingthrough right now.
How do you anticipate usingyour gifts to create maybe, even
if they're small, miracles inyour future ministry?
Is there a daily practice orsomething that you do to
(19:27):
continue to discerning orinvesting in the gifts that are
even like revealed to you inyour discernment process?
Marycelis (19:36):
Every day I do my morning prayers, especially
going through the hospital.
There's many not only physicalbattles, but there's a lot of
spiritual battles.
You see the angel of life anddeath dancing around the
hospital and that'smetaphorically.
But it's important to be readyand to be centered and to be
(19:59):
prepared and also remember thatevery single Sunday and every
single time that we have space,we can go to the table and dress
ourselves and receive that holycommunion, that holy bread and
that holy blood that is going tobe talked to in the other week,
(20:20):
Because Jesus is that bread oflife, that continuous
relationship with God and justtalking to Him and just
surrounding yourself.
Your good days and your not sogood days is part of that
(20:42):
process.
You know, and it's done betterwhen you have a community of
faith, when you surroundyourself with people that loves
on you and that also covers youin prayers.
I am standing here because ofthe many people that love me and
because of the many people thathave been praying for me for
years, because we are one familyof faith.
Melissa (21:06):
Amen to that.
And Marycelis, I am so gratefulfor you.
I'm grateful for the manyministries that you bring to
life.
I'm especially grateful for theways that you help for faith
come alive through your greattranslation, all of the gifts
that you bring to the Diocese ofAtlanta and this entire
Episcopal Church.
I'm grateful for you and allthe things.
(21:27):
Thank you so much for joiningus and listeners.
We're grateful to you fortuning in to Four People.
You can follow us on Instagramand Facebook at Bishop Rob
Wright.
Please subscribe, leave areview and we'll be back with
you next week.
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