It helps, now and then, to step back and take a long view.
The kingdom is not only beyond our efforts; it’s even beyond our vision.
We accomplish in our lifetime only a tiny 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 should 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.
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 do it very well.
It may be incomplete, but it’s a beginning – a step along the way.
It’s an opportunity for God’s grace to enter and do the rest.
We may never see the result.
But that’s the difference between the master builder and the worker.
We are the workers, not master builders.
We are the ministers, not messiahs.
We are prophets of a future that is not our own. Amen.
— Archbishop Oscar Romero
Days before his murder in El Savador, Romero told a reporter, “You can tell the people that if they succeed in killing me, that I forgive and bless those who do it. Hopefully, they will realize they are wasting their time. A bishop will die, but the church of God, which is the people, will never perish.”
God of love, may we and our church become tools in your hands to help prepare the way for your reign in history. Amen.
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