Ministers to the Future
By Cardinal John Dearden of Detroit (1979)

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 the Lord's work.

Nothing we do is complete, which is another way of saying
That the Kingdom always lies beyond us.
No sermon says all that should 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.

That 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 provided yeast that affects 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, 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 to 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, but not master builders. . .
Ministers, not messiahs.

We are prophets of a future that is not our own. Amen