We Are Prophets of a Future
Not Our Own
by Fr.
Kenneth Edward Untener (1937 - 2004) *
It helps, now and then, to step
back and take the 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 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 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
effects 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 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.
* Untener, the “Good Shepherd of Saginaw”, has been
credited with writing the prayer, "We are prophets of a future not our
own." This poem, often attributed to Archbishop Oscar
Romero, was delivered by Cardinal John Francis Dearden in November 1979
