The Romero Prayer: Prophets of A Future Not Our Own

Today, let me share with you this beautiful prayer which was composed in honor of Bishop Oscar Romero of El Salvador, a genuine bishop of the poor.

Source: http://www.uscatholic.org/culture/social-justice/2009/02/oscar-romero-bishop-poor#comment-1132

Prophets of A Future Not Our Own

The Romero Prayer

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 expreses 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.
That 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.

- Bishop Ken Untener