The
word that comes to mind as I read and prayed with this Gospel is “patience.” Have patience as the kingdom of God grows in
our midst, and in ourselves. I can tend
to be impatient, with the apparent slow pace at which the world seems to be
converted to His Kingdom, or even seems much of the time to be regressing, to
rejecting the way of Jesus. And even
more impatient at the apparent slow pace at which I, my heart, seems to be
converted, how slowly I tend to change, how resistant I can be to taking on the
measuring stick of Our Lord, of which Father Paul spoke yesterday morning. So have patience is what I’m hearing – He’s
not done with any of us yet!
And
another word that comes to mind is humility.
It helps to remember that it is God’s Kingdom we’re talking about here,
not ours. That God, in Christ, is in
charge of seeing to it that the Kingdom grows in our world, and even in our
hearts. We have to do our part, to be
sure, we are to give our “yes” to Him in whatever way He calls us, to cooperate
with Him in seeing to it that the Kingdom grows in our midst, but ultimately,
this is His enterprise. And to abandon
this into His hands, His providence, is an act of humility.
The
words of Archbishop Oscar Romero come to mind.
This is called 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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
messiahs. We are prophets of a future not our own.
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