Ministers, not messiahs

Temptation can be insidious, and cunning, and before we know it we've become ensnared.  Thankfully, there are voices to call us back to reality before it's too late, to help us put things back in persepcetive.  Maybe that's another grace of this Lenten period.

Archbishop Oscar Romero served the Church in the Archdiocese of San Salvador (El Salvador) until his death in 1980.  He dared to challenge the political powers and to speak out in favor of the common folk, and for this he was asasinated while celebrating Mass early one morning.  He is still revered for his commitment to faith, and to the people he so dearly loved.

Among his most famous reflections is a prayer which has become widely known.  It still speaks today in a language of eloquence about the task of service, particularly in the church:

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


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.
Amen.

Words of comfort for weary souls.