Inspirations
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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 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 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 to do it very well.
It may be incomplete, but it is a beginning, a step along the way,
an opportunity for God'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
Written by Fr. Ken Untener (later Bishop Untener, bishop of Saginaw) for John Francis Cardinal Dearden; given by Cardinal Dearden as a homily at Blessed Sacrament Cathedral, Detroit, October 25, 1979. Bishop Untener is the originator of the "Little Books" series from the Archdiocese of Saginaw.
This verse has been attributed to Archbishop Oscar Arnulfo Romero - murdered on March 24, 1980 and although he did not write or speak it, it certainly capsulates his life and that of many others who gave their lives to Christ.
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