Archbishop Oscar Romero’s poem, “A Future Not Our Own,”
never fails to revive my sometimes disheartened spirit. The powerful words of this martyr, I believe,
make for an excellent meditation on today’s gospel message concerning the
Kingdom of God which is couched in the two parables of the seed. Let me share his words and then comment on the
two parables.
It helps, now
and then, to step back and take the long view.
The kingdom is
not only beyond our efforts, it is 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 programme accomplishes the church's mission.
No set of goals and objectives includes everything.
This is what we are about:
We plant 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 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,
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 programme accomplishes the church's mission.
No set of goals and objectives includes everything.
This is what we are about:
We plant 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 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
God'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.
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.
Today’s gospel reading
(Mk 4:26-34) presents two parables—the seed sown growing of itself and the
mustard seed turning into the largest of plants. Amid the persecutions being experienced by
the early Christians, both parables offer reassurance and evoke trust in God.
The first parable, describing how the seed grows by itself, that
is, independent of the farmer, points clearly to the hidden power that supports
the growth and development of the Kingdom of God. The parable gently reminds us that,
ultimately, it is God who brings success and completion to our work. God is the
master builder, we are only workers. We cannot but agree with Archbishop Romero
that there is a sense of liberation in realizing this. When we truly accept this truth, we are freed
from our messianic complex; we are liberated from our compulsion to do it our
way.
Yes, we are humbled. But
we have to face it, a lot of things we are called to do in life is beyond us, beyond
our efforts, beyond our vision. We
cannot do it solely on our human powers.
We need to trust in God who acts in mysterious ways. The more we trust
in God, the more we liberate ourselves from restless anxieties.
If you cannot sleep at night tossing yourself from one side
of the bed to the other because of worries, chances are you have not allowed
God to be the Master builder and you have assumed for yourself God’s portion of
the job. Actually, we all can be truly dedicated to our
work and live a serene life if only we trust in God. A familiar adage contains the secret to peaceful
and restful nights: “Work as if
everything depended on you. But pray as
if everything depended on God.” Try it
and say goodbye to sleepless nights.
The second parable—that of the tiny mustard seed—brings home
another reassuring point: All great
things have humble beginnings. Conversely,
the seemingly insignificant initiatives we do for God’s Kingdom can, in God’s
time, flourish into something of great import—just as the mustard seed, the
smallest of all seeds, once sown, springs up and becomes the largest of plants
and puts forth large branches so that the birds of the sky can dwell in its
shade (Mk 4: 32).
This encourages us to be committed to do something albeit
insignificant it may seem to human eyes at first. This gives us confidence despite our
smallness. This allows us to believe in
the importance of first small steps. An
ordinary citizen, for instance, can have faith in his small acts of honesty to
make a difference in terms of transforming our corrupt institutions and
systems.
How often we succumb to the temptation of not doing the
right things because all the others are doing otherwise! We need to listen to
Jesus’ parable. The parable of the mustard seed awakens in us faith in the potentials
of our initiatives for God’s
Kingdom however small these may seem. Again, in Archbishop Romero’s words:
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
God's grace to enter and do the rest.
May the words of
this martyred bishop and the parables of the seed enkindle in our hearts the
fire of our commitment to the reign of God in our midst. May we be reassured of the value of what we
do in life even if we do not get to see its fulfilment in our lifetime. May we be liberated from the excesses of both
our messianic complex, on the one hand, and our defeatist tendencies and
apathy, on the other.
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