Peace I Leave With You

Peace I Leave With You

by Sue Friest

John 14:27  NRSV

“Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not let them be afraid.”

Sometimes the tasks and responsibilities of the day can be staggering.  Have I loved enough? Have I helped enough? Have I learned enough? Have I accomplished enough?  There is just so much to be done.  We are called to be Christ’s hands and love with Christ’s heart.  That’s overwhelming!  But Jesus’ promise to all of us is that he gives us a peace that the world does not even understand.  The closing prayer was written to celebrate the canonization of Archbishop Oscar Romer.  It says to me, “Rest in peace, good and faithful servant. I’ve got this.”  Thanks be to God! 

A Prayer of Oscar Romero

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 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 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 that is not our own.

Amen.