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Sign & sacrament

01 Apr 2012 - Palm Sunday of the Passion of the Lord, Cycle B

When we think of heroes we usually think of those who save people through their use of power or force, those who establish empires, those who dominate the competition—think Superman, Alexander the Great, Michael Jordan. But Jesus broke the mold when it comes to heroes. He shows us another way to live a heroic life: emptying ourselves in service to others—think Mother Teresa, Saint Francis of Assisi, Archbishop Oscar Romero. The Easter story teaches us that when we pour ourselves out for the sake of others, our resulting “emptiness” allows us to rise to the very heavens.

hero Service Mother Teresa saint francis archbishop oscar romero

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Commemorating Archbishop Romero’s assassination

04 Apr 2010 - Preaching the News for Sunday

Every Good Friday Christ's suffering is heavy on Christians' hearts. For three decades Christians throughout the world have commemorated the assassination of Salvadoran Archbishop Oscar Romero, murdered March 24, 1980 as he celebrated Mass during a time of bloody civil war that took the lives of at least 75,000 Salvadorans. This year, however, marked a major milestone. El Salvador's President Mauricio Funes issued an official condemnation of Romero's murder. Funes, the first left-leaning leader elected since the country's civil war ended in 1992, said the archbishop, revered by many as a martyr, was a "victim of illegal violence" at the hands of a paramilitary death squad. Source: News summaries by Ecumenical News International and World News Network

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Obama pays respects to slain archbishop Romero

03 Apr 2011 - Preaching the News for Sunday

After being anointed by the prophet Samuel, David was filled with the spirit of the Lord, the first reading tells us Sunday. Slain Archbishop Oscar Romero of El Salvador, who spoke out forcefully on behalf of the poor, is seen by many to have been a modern-day prophet filled with the Holy Spirit. At the end of his recent five-day swing through Latin America, Barack Obama became the first U.S. president to visit Romero’s crypt. Romero was gunned down while celebrating Mass on March 24, 1980 shortly after a radio broadcast in which he urged Salvadoran soldiers to stop turning their weapons on civilians in El Salvador’s civil war. The U.S. government supported the Salvadoran military with financial aid during the conflict, which took place at the height of the Cold War. Housed below the Metropolitan Cathedral, Romero's tomb is a frequent place of prayer and supplication for Salvadorans and other faithful from around the world. The case for his canonization is under consideration in Rome. The president visited the tomb while touring the national cathedral with Monsignor Jose Luis Escobar Alas, the current Salvadoran archbishop. Former guerrilla fighters who now make up the Farabundo Marti National Liberation Front, the rebel group-turned-political party, called the visit historic. Salvadoran President Mauricio Funes, who also accompanied Obama on the visit, is the first to be elected from the leftist party, breaking a 20-year hold by the conservative Nationalist Republican Alliance in 2009. He has apologized for the Salvadoran government's role in Romero's assassination. Although many see Romero as a martyr deserving of canonization, detractors see him as a political figure manipulated by the Left. His legacy in many ways encapsulates still-simmering tensions of the civil war that was ended by United Nations-brokered peace accords 20 years ago. "How wonderful it is that President Obama comes to see our pastor!" said Marco Tulio Ramirez, 50, a clothes peddler who fought in the war and was one of several hundred people kept blocks away from the cathedral for security reasons but who still hoped to catch a glimpse of the president. "Msgr. Romero was never a communist. He was a man who died like a sheep among the wolves." Source: Articles by Tracy Wilkinson and Peter Nichols for the Los Angeles Times and Jim Kuhnhenn and Any Cabrera for the Associated Press and blog posts by Barb Fraze for Catholic News Service and Joel Schorn for SpiritCitings (VisionNetwork.org/blog/spiritcitings_blog)

barack obama mauricio funes el salvador oscar romero jose luis escobar alas

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Martyred archbishop hailed by pope

08 Feb 2015 - Preaching the News for Sunday

All that Saint Paul does he does “for the sake of the gospel,” we hear in this Sunday’s reading from 1st Corinthians. Pope Francis Tuesday affirmed that assassinated Salvadoran Archbishop Romero died for the sake of gospel values, not political ideology. The designation of Romero’s martyrdom opens the door toward beatification and possible sainthood for the iconic figure of the bloody civil wars that tore Central America apart and deeply divided the Catholic Church in Latin America a generation ago. Homily hint: Monseñor Romero, as he was affectionately known by his flock, led a deeply divided church and nation that suffered great violence and repression. He lost his life standing up for gospel values and speaking out for the poor in his charge. He serves as an inspiration for pastoral leaders everywhere. For more on Romero’s martyrdom, see: Pope Francis Declares Salvadoran Archbishop Oscar Romero A Martyr; Archbishop Oscar Romero declared a martyr by Pope Francis

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Archbishop Romero remembered and revered

31 May 2015 - Preaching the News for Sunday

Tens of thousands of people filled the streets of El Salvador’s capital city of San Salvador last Saturday to celebrate the beatification of Oscar Romero, an archbishop who walked with his people in poverty and spoke out against military violence. He was assassinated while he celebrated Mass on March 24, 1980. Romero exemplified what the psalmist this Sunday calls God's love for “justice and right.” “Romero was a good priest, a wise bishop, but above all he was a virtuous man,” said Cardinal Angelo Amato, an emissary from Pope Francis who presided over the ceremony. “He saw his tormented homeland with hope in his heart. His words were not a provocation to hatred and revenge, but the brave exhortation of a father to his divided children.” Like Saint Paul this Sunday, Romero understood “that we are children of God.” Homily hint: Anyone who has read about the life, witness, and martyrdom of Oscar Romero or seen the excellent movie Romero will find cause for rejoicing in his beatification. We stand in good company when we stand with those who have stood for justice and peace, even at great personal sacrifice. Be thankful for the witness of the church’s martyrs and saints. For more on Romero's beatification, see: Salvadorans flock to honor beloved archbishop on path to sainthood

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Exploring the word

04 Feb 2018 - Fifth Sunday in Ordinary Time, Cycle B

As a young priest, Oscar Romero was passionate about books and the education of the mind. But when he was unexpectedly named the bishop of El Salvador, he turned from the world of academic learning and felt a growing passion for the oppression of the poor in his country. As a young woman, Dorothy Day gave her heart to the bohemian lifestyle of the smart, successful, popular people of her generation. But through a series of losses, she began to look deeper for meaning and purpose in her life, first by becoming a Catholic, and later by surrendering her heart to the needs of the homeless. All of us go through a gradual transformation of the heart as we pass through the years, moving from childish ways, as Saint Paul says, to the concerns of mature and thoughtful people. We who once were crazy for motorcycles or detective stories or the latest band, are now parents, teachers, and business leaders. We may still keep a copy of Tony Hillerman at the bedside, and consider ourselves “weekend warriors” on the cycle. We may remember all the words to Abbey Road or Purple Rain. But the genuine passion of our life is now surrendered to greater and more enduring things. The gospel, free of charge Saint Paul gave over his passion early to religion, as many idealistic young people do. He was born a Jew of Tarsus, whose Hellenized population had been granted Roman citizenship from Marc Antony—hence the dual citizenship that spared his life on more than one occasion. But he was not divided at all in matters of the heart. He was a Pharisee, of the strictest order of observant Jews. He studied under Gamaliel, a noteworthy rabbi, and had connections with the Sanhedrin of Jerusalem. Paul of Tarsus was, by his own account, morally spotless when it came to obeying religious law. In modern terms, he was a religious fanatic! And because he was so fierce in his determination to obey the will of God as he understood it, he set out to discover, arrest, and see to the extermination of as many Christians as possible. He saw the Jesus movement as an affront to the laws of God. He saw the church as the enemy of the synagogue. He gave his passion over completely to the mission of stopping Christianity in its tracks. What happened to Paul to cause his transformation? What reoriented his heart from a resolute passion for the law to a wholesale embrace of the gospel? The two could not be more distinct. People don’t switch sides so wholeheartedly without a darn good reason. Paul’s reason, as he describes it, is a powerful encounter with the Jesus he was intent on persecuting. And so Paul surrendered his passion to Christ and him crucified. He gave over the rest of his life and offered his death to the task of proclaiming the gospel, free of charge. Not before or since has such an evangelist passed through this world. His words are part of our scripture. His perception of Jesus has shaped our theology for 20 centuries. Paul’s passion proves what he taught us in his most famous passage: that love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. And it never fails. A singular purpose Passion takes us to some very strange places. We get a sense of this in a day in the life of Jesus. He came to town and accepted someone’s hospitality, if it were offered. Generally, there was work to do at once—in every family, someone is sick, or suffering from disability, mental illness, ignorance, or poverty. Jesus offered his compassion, as he did with Peter’s sick mother-in-law. Then the whole town got in the act, bringing their sick and demon-possessed. We can imagine this included the genuinely feverish and the leprous; as well as kids who drove their parents to distraction; the shoemaker’s son who wanted to be a poet, of all things; those who doubted their religion; those generally unhappy with their marriages, lives, and choices. Jesus cured “many” who were sick and drove out “many” demons. It does not say “all.” Some of the sick, we can imagine, did not want to be cured, and some possessed of certain ideas did not care to be dispossessed of them. Jesus did not come to force. As Jesus says clearly when the disciples urge him to spend another day in Peter’s village: “Let us go on to the nearby villages, so that I may preach there also. For this purpose have I come” (Mark 1:38). Jesus comes to proclaim the freedom of the kingdom to all who will listen. He hasn’t come to replace the medical profession, set up psychiatric care, or hear confessions. He has come to liberate God’s people—if freedom is what they truly want. It was this message that Paul, bound all his life to observance of the law, heard and embraced with all his heart. Related scripture links The child vs. the mature person: 1 Cor. 13:11 Paul’s moral perfection under the law: Phil. 3:4–6 The conversion of Paul: Acts 9:1–9; 22:3–11; 26:12–18 Preaching Christ and him crucified: 1 Cor. 2:2 The meaning of love: 1 Cor. 13:1–13 Catechism links Sickness and healing: CCC 164;14991510; 1521 Sin: CCC 385390; 396412; 601618; 654; 705; 953; 18651869 Salvation: CCC 55; 161

Authors Alice Camille

oscar romero dorothy day transformation of the heart Passion Saint Paul Healing

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