by Archbishop Oscar Romero

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

We accomplish in our life time 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 God’s reign 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 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 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 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 masters builders, ministers, not messiahs.
We are prophets of a future not our own.
AMEN