Passionist International Bulletin

The Curia Informs10Archbishop Oscar Romero“No set of goals and objectives includeseverything”We can "test the assumptions" around ministryto the Crucified, how we govern ourselves,and how the laity are part of our charismaticmovement within the Church. Judged by oneset of assumptions our religious life might notseem "viable". Change the assumptions andour life together may take on a whole otherdimension of vitality.My hope is that we will create the structureswe need to live out the values we mutuallyespouse, and to do a particular mission. Out ofthese dialogues may come new relationshipsand new missions. If restructuring is also"permission to live", then we need to allowpeople the freedom to create the structure theyneed and trust their integrity in doing so. Myguess is that whatever structures emerge, theywill come out of a shared ministry, even crossinginternational borders. We need not beginwith geographical amalgamations of structuresthat might already have passed theirtime.The prayer of Archbishop Oscar Romero,whose journey of faith brought him from beingan ecclesiastic to a prophet, might well be ourown:It helps, now and then, to step backand take a long view.The Kingdom is not only beyond our efforts;it is even beyond our vision.We accomplish in our lifetimeonly a tiny fractionof the magnificent enterprisethat is God's work.Nothing we do is complete,which is a way of sayingthat 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 theChurch's mission.No set of goals and objectivesincludes 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 willneed further development.We provide yeast that producesfar beyond our capabilities.We cannot do everything,and there is a sense of liberationin realizing that.This enables us to do something.And to do it very well. I may be incomplete,But this is a beginning, a step along the way,An opportunity for the Lord's graceto enter and do the rest.We may never see end results,but that is the differenceBetween 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.