It helps, now and then, to step back and take a long view.
I have come across this prayer a couple of times in the past couple of months. Some mistakenly attribute this prayer to Archbishop Oscar Romero, and indeed, the message of this prayer does seem to coincide with his vision and spirituality of Archbishop Romero. But, actually, this prayer was written by Bishop Ken Untener of Saginaw, Michigan in 1979, a year before he was ordained bishop. This prayer was made famous by Pope Francis when he quoted these words in remarks he made to the Roman Curia in December 2015. I think this prayer has resonated with me as I reflect upon our reality during this pandemic. I think that wherever we are and whatever our reality is, God is present with us and we can find God’s blessings and God’s grace. Sometimes we think we know God’s will for us without any doubts. Sometimes we feel God very close by, but other times he seems very far away, doesn’t he? But are we willing to listen? Are we willing to be open to transformation? Are we willing to sit in the mystery of God and be comfortable knowing that we will never have all the answers? Let us pray for God’s grace and God’s blessings for us on this 4th week of the Easter season.
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.
Father Lincoln
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