We are workers, not master builders, ministers, not messiahs. We are prophets of a future not our own.
Oscar RomeroRead
That we may give our body and our blood over to suffering and pain, like Christ - not for Self, but to give harvests of peace and justice to our People.
Interpretation
The quote emphasizes selflessness and sacrifice for the greater good of society.
In this quote, Oscar Romero speaks to the idea of suffering and sacrifice for the benefit of others, comparing it to Christ's selfless actions. He suggests that true strength lies not in what we gain for ourselves, but in what we are willing to endure in order to bring about peace and justice for our community. This perspective encourages individuals to engage in acts of courage and love that uplift those around them.
In practice
During a speech about community service, one might use this quote to inspire volunteers.
We are workers, not master builders, ministers, not messiahs. We are prophets of a future not our own.
Beautiful is the moment in which we understand that we are no more than an instrument of God; we live only as long as God wants us to live; we can only do as much as God makes us able to do; we are only as intelligent as God would have us be.
When the church hears the cry of the oppressed it cannot but denounce the social structures that give rise to and perpetuate the misery from which the cry arises.
Aspire not to have more, but to be more.
A Christian's authenticity is show in difficult hours it is in difficult hours that the church grows in authenticity. Blest be God for this difficult hour in our archdiocese. Let us be worthy of it.
The church would betray its own love for God and its fidelity to the gospel if it stopped being . . . a defender of the rights of the poor . . . a humanizer of every legitimate struggle to achieve a more just society . . . that prepares the way for the true reign of God in history.
I would prove to you that being different isn't a death sentence but a call to arms.
The battle, sir, is not to the strong alone; it is to the vigilant, the active, the brave.
Every woman who thinks she is the only victim of violence has to know that there are many more.
At the core, the American citizen soldiers knew the difference between right and wrong, and they didn't want to live in a world in which wrong prevailed. So they fought, and won, and we all of us, living and yet to be born, must be forever profoundly grateful.
Daily I expect to be murdered or betrayed or reduced to slavery if the occasion arises. But I fear nothing, because of the promises of heaven.
The McCarthy period came along...and many of the other scientists who had been working on these same lines gave up. Probably saying "Why should I sacrifice myself? I am a scientist, I am supposed to be working on scientific things, so I don't need to put myself at risk by talking about these possibilities." And I have said that perhaps I'm just stubborn... I have said "I don't like anybody to tell me what to do or to think, except Mrs. Pauling."
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