It was a strange story to read, the murder of an Archbishop in a remote country few of us had ever heard of. It was another time. Most of us were still concerned about the hostages being held in Iran after the 1979 revolution that toppled the Shah. But on this day in 1980 a Salvadoran Army marksman stepped into a church and shot Monseñor Oscar Romero in the heart as he lifted the chalice above his head during mass.
It probably was the galvanizing event that drove El Salvador’s groups opposing the government, responsible for the murders of many opposition leaders to form the FMLN. By January 1992, when the peace accords were signed, more than 75,000 had been killed and as many as several hundred thousand fled to the United States for refuge.
Now more than 40 years later, we as a Nation still experience the fallout from that war and the civil war in Guatemala. As we consider our relationships with the countries in Central America, we must learn to listen to the voices of reason and peace in those areas that still bear the scars of wars.
Prayer for the Day
Searching for the light, O God, often we find only the shadows,
Failing to do the good we mean to do we acquiesce to evil;
Knowing we fall short of our goals and your promise,
We come to you in contrition and ask forgiveness.
Move us from hopelessness to determination
So we live life more fully as you intended.
In the name of him who came to bring us new life
Even Christ Jesus our Lord, Amen.
Thoughts for the Day
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.
- Monseñor Oscar Romero, from his last homily, March 23, 1980
The poor have shown the church the true way to go. A church that does not speak out from the side of the poor is not the true church of Jesus.
- Monseñor Oscar Romero (1917-1980)
Blessed are you who are poor, for yours is the kingdom of heaven;
Blessed are you who hunger now, for you will be filled
Jesus, Luke 6:20-21