Oscar Romero, Archbishop & Martyr

If you want to see Jesus, you have to look into the face of the poor.  Today the Church celebrates the life and ministry of someone who was dedicated to the poor, someone who was one with the poor, Bishop Oscar Romero. 

 

Oscar Arnulfo Romero y Galdámez was born on 15 August 1917 in Ciudad Barrios, El Salvador, and he was gunned down on this day in March of 1980 as he was celebrating the Eucharist at a small chapel located in a hospital called “La Divina Providencia.”

 

Following his ordination in 1942, Romero spent the first 25 years of his ministry as a parish priest. In 1970 he became auxiliary (sufragan) bishop of San Salvador until 1974 when he came bishop of Santiago de María, a poor, rural region which included his hometown. In 1977, Romero returned to the capital, San Salvador, to become archbishop.

 

Romero was an outspoken, but controversial, advocate for the poor in El Salvador.  In 1979, the Revolutionary Government Junta came to power amidst a wave of human rights abuses by paramilitary right-wing groups and the government in an escalation of violence that would become the Salvadoran Civil War. 

 

Archbishop Romero denounced the persecution of members of the Catholic Church who had worked on behalf of the poor:

 

In less than three years, more than fifty priests have been attacked, threatened, calumniated. Six are already martyrs--they were murdered. Some have been tortured and others expelled [from the country]. Nuns have also been persecuted. The archdiocesan radio station and educational institutions that are Catholic or of a Christian inspiration have been attacked, threatened, intimidated, even bombed. Several parish communities have been raided. If all this has happened to persons who are the most evident representatives of the Church, you can guess what has happened to ordinary Christians, to the campesinos, catechists, lay ministers, and to the ecclesial base communities. There have been threats, arrests, tortures, murders, numbering in the hundreds and thousands....

 

But it is important to note why [the Church] has been persecuted. Not any and every priest has been persecuted, not any and every institution has been attacked. That part of the church has been attacked and persecuted that put itself on the side of the people and went to the people's defense. Here again we find the same key to understanding the persecution of the church: the poor.

 

—Oscar Romero, Speech at the Université Catholique de Louvain, Belgium, 2 February 1980.

 

Oscar Romero said: “Here there is a challenge from Christ to the goodness of humankind. It is not enough to be good. It is not enough to not do evil. My Christianity is something more positive; it is not a negative. There are many who say, “But I don’t kill, I don’t steal, I don’t do anything bad to anyone.” That’s not enough. You are still lacking a great deal. It is not enough to be good.”

 

Let us pray:  Almighty God, you called your servant Oscar Romero to be a voice for the voiceless poor, and to give his life as a seed of freedom and a sign of hope: Grant that, inspired by his sacrifice and the example of the martyrs of El Salvador, we may without fear or favor witness to your Word who abides, your Word who is Life, even Jesus Christ our Lord, to whom, with you and the Holy Spirit, be praise and glory now and for ever. Amen.

 

CALENDAR REMINDERS

 

Lenten Program, The Rule of Life, is at St. Augustine’s this Wednesday starting at 6 PM.  Please remember to bring a soup or a salad for the meal.  The Rev. Dr. Mark Crawford will be our speaker.  Fr. Crawford was educated at Southern Methodist University in Dallas, and Oxford University prior to his ordination.  Thereafter, he earned his Doctorate of Ministry at Austin Presbyterian Theological Seminary. He is currently serving as the interim rector at St. Mark’s in Beaumont.

 

This Sunday is Palm Sunday.  We start at the cross outside.

 

Senior Health Lunches with hosted by the Rev. Dr. Helen Appelberg and UTMB at St. Augustine’s starting Tuesday, 14 April at 11:30 AM to 1:30 PM.  Come and learn about health issues from trained medical professional speakers.  Spanish speakers are especially welcome since there will be someone from UTMB providing translations.  Please get the word out!

 

The Annual BBQ with Bigmista is right around the corner, 2 May.  Pitch in and help!

 

Please remember everyone on our Prayer List, especially those recovering from surgery.

 

Your servant in Christ,

 

Fr. Chester J. Makowski+

St. Augustine of Hippo Episcopal Church

Galveston, Texas 77550