THE SUN OF THE TRANSFIGURED ONE
“It seems to me that never before has the nation been more beautiful than today when she is bathed in the light of the sun of the [Transfigured] One,” Romero said, alluding to the Gospel account (“His face shone like the sun”). “We remember first of all the primary origin of this beautiful landscape of our country,” he said, describing the pre-Christian El Salvador like an Eden, beautiful, but untamed. “The sin of humanity submitted nature to slavery, selfishness and passions,” he said, “but in Christ we find the hope of restoration.” By allowing Salvadorans to view their country's original, natural beauty through a moral filter, Christianity's guiding light, Romero said, “enables us to see as never before the marvels of our volcanoes, lakes, rivers, plains and seas.” In the Transfigured Christ, Romero prayed, “we find the true meaning of our life, for you guide our history. You are the Word through whom God created all things and in whom God redeemed the enslaved world.”
That introduction to his Sermon on that August Sunday (the same day that Pope Paul VI passed away in Rome) summarized Romero's preaching on the Feast of the Transfiguration, which he would later call his “Transfiguration Theology,” and which we have offered as an alternative and more accurate description of Romero's social teachings than the phrase “Liberation theology.” In Romero's exegesis, Christ calls on his followers--including nations--to be transfigured; to be lifted up from sin and material desires to the dignity of the Children of God, and accept suffering and sacrifice as the birth pangs of a more just world which does not represent Heaven on earth, but the antechamber to Paradise.
Romero's Transfiguration teachings constitute a sizeable opus and include:
- Various reflections published during his priesthood, including “La Fiesta de la Transfiguración, regalo de la Providencia a nuestra patria [The Feast of the Transfiguration, Providence's gift to our country],” Semanario Chaparrastique, No.2911 p. 6, Aug. 23, 1963 and “La Fiesta de la Transfiguración [The Feast of the Transfiguration],” Semanario Chaparrastique, No.2913 p. 3, Sept. 6, 1963, available here (in Spanish).
- “The Divine Savior: Who He is, what His liberation consists of, how His work reaches us:” Romero's sermon for the Feast of the Divine Saviour of the World, August 6, 1976, which he presented Christ as a “Liberator,” but warned against the dangers of overtly political and Marxist readings of the Church's social doctrine.
- Romero's Second Pastoral Letter, “The Church, the Body of Christ in History,” released on the Feast of the Transfiguration, August 6, 1977
- “The Church, Christ's Body in Time:” Romero's sermon for the Feast of the Divine Saviour of the World, August 6, 1977
- “The Church, a Spiritual Israel:” Romero's sermon for the Second Sunday of Lent (which includes the Gospel account of the Transfiguration), February 19, 1978
- Romero's Third Pastoral Letter, “The Church and Popular Political Organizations,” released on the Feast of the Transfiguration, August 6, 1978
- “The Son of Man, Light of Pilgrims on Earth:” Romero's sermon for the Feast of the Divine Saviour of the World, August 6, 1978 (quoted above)
- “Lent, the Transgiguration of God's People:” Romero's sermon for the Second Sunday of Lent (which includes the Gospel account of the Transfiguration), March 11, 1979
- Romero's Fourth Pastoral Letter, “The Church's Mission amid the National Crisis,” released on the Feast of the Transfiguration, August 6, 1979
- Romero's July 29, 1979 sermon, “The Divine Saviour Solves Our Problems”
- Romero's August 5, 1979 sermon, “The Divine Saviour, Bread of Life”
- “The Church’s Mission in a Crisis:” Romero's sermon for the Feast of the Divine Saviour of the World, August 6, 1979
- Romero's August 12, 1979 sermon, “The Divine Savior, Life of The World”
- Romero's August 19, 1979 sermon, “The Divine Savior of The Eucharist”
- Romero's August 26, 1979 sermon, “The Divine Savior, Word of Eternal Life”
- “Lent, our Transfiguration through Christ:” Romero's sermon for the Second Sunday of Lent (which includes the Gospel account of the Transfiguration), March 2, 1980
Background:
Romero's 'Transfiguration Theology' (Spanish)
Criticism of Jon Sobrino in '76 Sermon
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