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 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 a 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 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 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, not master builders; ministers, not messiahs.

We are prophets of a future not our own.

Amen.

 

(This prayer is often attributed to Archbishop Romero. It was actually written by Bishop Kenneth Untener, a long-time Pax Christi bishop. For the interesting story behind the prayer, visit http://www.jpic-visitation.org/reflections/prayers/romero.html)