Friday, June 13, 2008

Prophets of a Future Not Our Own

Prophets of a Future Not Our Own

It helps now and then to step back
and take the long view
The Kingdom is not only beyond our efforts,
it is beyond our vision.

We accomplish in our lifetime only a fraction of
the magnificent enterprise that is God’s work.
Nothing we do is complete,
which is another way of saying
that the kingdom always lies beyond us.

No statement says all that could be said.
No prayer fully expresses our faith.
No confession brings perfection.
No pastoral visit brings wholeness.
No program accomplishes the Church’s mission.
No set of goals and objectives
include everything.

This is what we are about.
We plant seeds that one day will grow.
We water seeds already planted,
knowing that they hold future promise.
We lay foundations
that will need further development.
We provide yeast that produces effects
far beyond our capabilities.

We cannot do everything,
and there is a sense of liberation in realizing that.
This enables us to do something,
and to do it very well.
It may be incomplete, but it is a beginning,
a step along the way,
an opportunity for the Lord’s
grace to enter and do the rest.

We may never see the end results,
but that is the difference
between the master builder and the worker.
We are workers, no master builders,
ministers, not messiahs.
We are prophets of a future not our own.

--attributed to Archbishop Oscar Romero
(1917-1980)

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