We are workers, not master builders, ministers, not messiahs. We are prophets of a future not our own.
Interpretation
This quote highlights the importance of service and humility in leadership, emphasizing collective efforts towards a greater future.
Oscar Romero's quote reflects the idea that individuals in positions of leadership should prioritize their roles as servants and contributors to a larger vision rather than seeking power or glory. It suggests that true leadership is about working together for a future that may not directly benefit oneself, but serves a greater purpose and the community as a whole.
In practice
In a speech about community engagement, one might say, 'As Oscar Romero beautifully expressed, we are workers, not master builders, emphasizing the importance of service over power.'
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.
It moves one's heart to think: Nine months before I was born there was a woman who loved me deeply. She did not know what I was going to be like, but she loved me because she carried me in her womb.
Clearly, the qualities Poles admire in a secretary of state - foreign languages, diplomatic experience, even sense of humor - are emphatically not those desired in a head of state: So be it.
The action we take and the decisions we make in this decade will have consequences far into this century. If America shows weakness and uncertainty, the world will drift toward tragedy. That will not happen on my watch.
The Army, as usual, are without pay; and a great part of the soldiery without shirts; and though the patience of them is equally threadbare, the States seem perfectly indifferent to their cries.
The people can always be brought to the bidding of the leaders...tell them they are being attacked, and denounce the peacemakers for lack of patriotism and exposing the country to danger.
Sometimes leaders slide from the role of freedom fighter into the presidency, which they may be unsuited for, but everyone accepts it until they hit the bump in the road.
If you're a leader, a fellow that other fellows look to, you've got to keep going.
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