Prophets of a future not our own!

Prophets of a Future Not Our Own

It helps now and then to step back and take a long
view. The kingdom is not only beyond our efforts, it
is even beyond our view.

We accomplish in our lifetime only a small 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 includes everything.

This is what we are about: We plant the seeds that
will one day 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 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, not master builders; ministers, not messiahs.

We are prophets of a future not our own.

-Archbishop Oscar Arnulfo Romero of
El Salvador (1917-1980)