The Deacon's Bench
As the blessed martyr is raised to the altars this weekend and declared, at last, a saint, it’s worth noting that some of the most beautiful and prophetic words connected to him were words he never spoke.
This reflection has been attributed to him for decades and, like the Prayer of St. Francis, has come to embody the spirit of a saint, and even carry his name, even though he had nothing to do with it.
The prayer, often titled “Prophets of 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 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.
This prayer was first presented by Cardinal Dearden in 1979 and quoted by Pope Francis in 2015. This reflection is an excerpt from a homily written for Cardinal Dearden by then-Fr. Ken Untener on the occasion of the Mass for Deceased Priests, October 25, 1979. Pope Francis quoted Cardinal Dearden in his remarks to the Roman Curia on December 21, 2015. Fr. Untener was named bishop of Saginaw, Michigan, in 1980.
Untener, incidentally, wrote an excellent book “Preaching Better” on, of course, preaching.
Regardless of the authorship, the words in that prayer carry a special urgency for our own time — as does St. Oscar Romero.
St. Oscar Romero, pray for us!
Ad-Free & Subscriber Log-In