The Romero Prayer

“The Romero Prayer,” as it’s commonly known, wasn’t written by Archbishop Oscar Romero (Bishop Ken Untener is its author), but it is very much in keeping with the archbishop’s spirit — and was included in a book honoring the anniversary of his martyrdom in 1980, when he was assassinated in his native El Salvador.

Pope Francis called it a “magnificent prayer,” and included it in his 2015 Christmas address.

It is a prayer for such a time as this. Here it is, laid out as a poem for your reading pleasure.

It helps, now and then,
to step back and take the long view.

The Kingdom is not only beyond our efforts;
it is even 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 includes 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.

We cannot do everything
and there is a sense of liberation
in realizing that.
This enables us to do something
and to do it 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.