St. Oscar Romero on the Future

       On October 15 Pope Francis canonized Archbishop Oscar Romero of El Salvador. Archbishop Romero was martyred by armed military while saying Mass in the cathedral. He was attacked for being a champion for justice for the poor of his country.

 

       The following is a reflection by Saint Oscar Romero which offers encouragement to those who work for justice against all odds. Let us be lifted up and moved to continue our work for those most in need of justice.

A FUTURE NOT OUR OWN

It helps now and then to step back and take a long view.

The Kingdom is not only beyond our efforts,

it is beyond our vision.

We accomplish in our lifetime only a 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 include everything.

This is what we are about. We plant the seeds that one

day will grow. We water the 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 this.

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.

           Sister Nancy Kordenbrock, OSB