SAINT OSCAR ROMERO

Presented by Brother Patrick

Saint Oscar Romero was born in 1917 and died in 1980. For three years, he served as Archbishop of San Salvador in the country names for our Lord and Savior. His pastoral plan was simple. Live the Gospel. Share God’s love and mercy. Serve the poor. Build up the Church. For his efforts, Archbishop Romero was criticized by some for not doing enough. He was vilified by others for being a revolutionary. In reality, Archbishop Romero was a true instrument of God’s peace and healing in a world sick with greed, pride, and anger.

Combined here are words once spoken by Saint Oscar Romero. This is the voice of a martyr.

Christianity is not a collection of truths to be believed, or laws to be obeyed, or prohibitions. All of that makes it very distasteful. Christianity is a person, one who loved us so much, one who calls for our love. Christianity is Christ.

Blessed are the poor, because they know that their riches are in the One who being rich made himself poor in order to enrich us all with his poverty, teaching us the Christian’s true wisdom.

God tells the poor, as he told the persecuted Christ as he carried the cross: “You will save the world by making your suffering a protest of salvation…You will save the world if you die in your poverty while yearning for better times, making your whole life a prayer.”

What does God want from the political power in our country? He wants it to create sound laws and moral unity among all people for the common good. God does not want this power to be used to assault or beat people, or to attack cities and villages. This is perversion.

What does God want from capitalism and from those to whom he gives money, property, and other things? God wants conversion. This means that we should bestow on the things created by God the destiny God ordains for them, which is the welfare of all people, so that everyone might have a small share in happiness.

It is no use to have lots of money, lots of power, and lots of luxury if we are not converted to God. If God does not justify you, then you are the poorest of the world’s wretches.

We are all sinners and we have all contributed a grain of sand to the mountain of crime and violence in our country. Some people think that the Church meddles in politics and other areas where it has no business. But they must understand that we are simply preaching the kingdom of God, which means pointing out the sins of society, even when the sin is found in money or politics.

This is what the Church wants: to disturb people’s consciences and to provoke a crisis in their lives. A church that does not provoke, a gospel that does not disturb, a word from God that does not irritate, a word from God that does not touch the concrete sin of the society in which it is proclaimed: What kind of gospel is that?

How different our country would be if we were harvesting what God has planted here.

If only we relied more on God and his teachings…then we might have a world that the Church dreams about: a world without injustice, a world respectful of human rights, a world where all people share generously, a world without repression, a world without torture.

It is easy to be servants of the word without disturbing the world in any way.

[But] the word that characterizes the authentic church in the world is the word that causes conflict and invites persecution. It is the searing word of the prophet that announces and denounces. It announces the marvelous works of God so that people will believe and worship him; and it denounces the sins of those who oppose God’s kingdom…The true word denounces sin so that it can be uprooted from people’s hearts, from our society, from our laws, and from those organizations that oppress and imprison and trample on the rights of God and his children.

Let us pray that the fanatics of violence and terrorism, as well as those who think repression and force will fix our problems, can learn that these are not the ways of the Lord. Rather, the ways of the Lord are love, respect, and obeying the law of the Lord. These are the humble ways of Christ.

This is why Christ tells us that the sign of the Christian is living the new commandment that he gives us. It is a commandment that becomes fresh in our memories and in our lives: “As I have loved you, so your should love one another (John 13:34).”

Let us never tire of preaching love. It is the force that will overcome the world.

The greatest disease in our world today is not knowing how to love. Everything is selfishness. Everything is exploitation of others. Everything is cruelty. Everything is violence and repression.

When we are tempted to act with vengeance, resentment, cruelty, or selfishness, let us not consider the sad example of those who hate others. But let us raise our eyes toward the love that becomes the lamb, becomes food, becomes Passover, and becomes covenant.

According to Christ, being a Christian means being leaven. Bakers know how the little bit of yeast that is placed within the dough leavens the entire loaf. This is what Christians should be: the smidgeon of yeast that goes on to transform families, neighborhoods, communities, towns, our entire country, and the entire world.

The Church’s laws, dogmas, and beliefs must be transformed into life…Those who do not understand the Church in this way are not worshipping the eternal living one, Christ, who will never die. We worship a living God who walks with living people.

The best microphone of God is Christ, and the best microphone of Christ is the Church, and the Church is all of us!

What God wants is to make the whole world one great community.

We are all members of the same body…God did not make us to live dispersed and divided. We need each other.

This is the Church: the coming together of those who believe in the true God and in Christ the Redeemer…The gospel path leads the way: through poverty of spirit, through the struggle for justice, through the sowing of the seeds of peace.

This is the love of the modern redeemers, the love of Christ, the love that endures forever. Only these people are the true peacemakers that Christ blessed in the Beatitudes.

Let us think of the poor who even now are traveling in search of a better life. Let us not forget them because they are the face of Christ…The face of Christ is dying of hunger in the children who have nothing to eat. The face of Christ is dying in the needy person who asks the Church to speak out…How can we refuse to speak when Christ tells us to speak for him?

At the final judgment, I do not want to be left back, hearing these words: “Depart from me, you accursed, into the eternal fire, because I was hungry and you gave me no food. I was needy and you did not care for me (Matthew 25:41-42).” You were more concerned about the purity of your orthodoxy; you were more concerned about quiet time for your own prayers…You did not want to contaminate yourself with addicts. You were worried about your own economic, political, or social prestige. That is why you despised those who asked for help. There I was with them. This is the standard by which Christ will judge us.

Good works are the splendor of the Church. But notice that the scriptures insist on good works for the poor…How can the Church not be pained by a civilization of selfishness, a civilization of cruel inequality, where the poor, the helpless, the hungry, the naked, and the homeless must exist as if they were not persons, not our own brothers and sisters?

Let us live by doing good works.

Religion does not consist in just a lot of praying. Religion consists in the promise of God drawing close to us because we lend our hands to our sisters and brothers who need us. This is where God lives.

What we do to the poor, we do to God. The way we look look at them is the way we look at God.

Let us do what we can. We can all do something. We can all be more understanding…If we enlighten with Christian hope our intense longings for justice and peace and all that is good, then we can be sure that no one dies forever.

These are the words for which he was murdered.

Archbishop Oscar Romero was shot once through the heart while celebrating Mass on March 24, 1980. He offered his life for the healing of God’s family. He offered his life for the poor and the persecuted. He died a true martyr for the Gospel of Christ.

Glory to the Father, to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit; as it was in the beginning, is now, and will be forever. Amen. Saint Oscar Romero, pray for us! Saint Francis of Assisi, pray for us! Saint Clare of Assisi, pray for us! Our Lady of the Angels, pray for us!

ABOUT THE PRESENTER

Brother Patrick Garvey is co-founder and spiritual director of the Assisi Project. He is a graduate of the University of Southern Maine, Saint John Seminary, and the Catholic University of America. He is a writer, spiritual director, retreat leader, and university lecturer. He also serves as an Associate Minister in the Catholic Community of Gloucester & Rockport in Massachusetts. On October 3, 2023, the Feast of the Transitus of Saint Francis of Assisi, Brother Patrick was consecrated as a diocesan hermit by Bishop Mark O’Connell, Vicar General of the Archdiocese of Boston. For more information about the Assisi Project and our ministries with adults of all ages and backgrounds, please contact Brother Patrick at brpatrick@assisiproject.com.

Art Credit: Bernardo Ramonfaur – 270022754 – Dreamstime.com

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ABOUT US

Founded in 2007, the Assisi Project is a Fellowship of Franciscans in Spirit with friends and followers throughout the world. We are dedicated to helping Christian believers of all ages more faithfully live the Gospel of Christ in the spirit of Saint Francis and Saint Clare of Assisi. The Assisi Project is a non-profit, tax exempt charitable organization. Please support our ministry via Pay Pal (see link below) or mail a tax-deductible donation to the Assisi Project, Post Office Box 3158, Gloucester, Massachusetts 01931-3158. The Assisi Project Podcast is produced by the Assisi Project, Inc. Copyright 2023. All rights reserved. May the Lord give you peace!

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