BEATIFICATION OF ARCHBISHOP ROMERO,
MAY 23, 2015
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God sees us with
the eyes of a merciful father. “This is
the tenderness of God: he is tireless in forgiving, relentless in love”,
assures the martyr. (Hom. 16 Mar. 1980). The tenderness of God surmounts the
challenges and difficulties of the moment. “And
this Lent, celebrated amidst blood and pain among us, must presage a
transfiguration of our people, a resurrection of our nation.” (Mar. 2, 1980
Hom.)
As Pope Francis
reminds us that reminds us of the words of the
Lord, “I desire mercy and not sacrifice”
(Mt 9,13), Archbishop Romero warns that fasting and penitential practices must lead
us to perform works of mercy: “but more
than these official, legal things, I invite you to live a Lent that is not so
much about not eating too much meat, or something else, but in abstaining
ourselves and sharing with those who have less what little we have. To live the
experience of participation, of love, of charity. To make our Lent first of all
a great exercise in reconciliation with our enemies. To learn to forgive, to
prepare ourselves to rise with Christ in love in the next Passover.” (Feb. 17, 1980 Hom.).
Our model of
mercy is God’s attitude toward us, and Archbishop Romero provides concrete
examples of this tenderness and loving gaze. First is the incarnation of God in
history, His active participation and presence. “Christ is ours, Christ is a Salvadoran for us Salvadorans. Christ is
risen here in El Salvador for us, to find from the power of the Spirit our own
idiosyncrasies, our own history, our own freedom, our own dignity as Salvadoran
people.” (Feb. 24, 1980 Hom.)
God is patient
and generous with us despite our faults, and our slowness in responding to the
call to conversion. God is understanding: “And
it indicates the tenderness and patience of God that he awaits: perhaps another
year, maybe tomorrow.” (Mar. 9, 1980 Hom.). As the cutter that saves a fig
tree that does not bear fruit, God waits with us for good results. “God takes care of each person with the love
that the gardener cared all year long for the fig tree to produce fruit as the
threat of elimination hung over it.” (Id.)
God’s mercy is
revealed in the parable of the prodigal son. “Rather than preach when it comes to this parable, I would prefer that
we sit quietly and remind ourselves that these pages of the son are our own individual
story. Each of you, as well as I, can see in the parable of the prodigal son
our own history, which always comes down to the project we were saying from the
Old Testament: a loving God who has us in his house and a rash and capricious
break by us to go seek the enjoyment of life without God—sin. And an awaiting
God, waiting for the day when the son returns.
And when the son finds himself in misery, and the abandonment of men, he
remembers that there is no greater love than God’s. He comes back, and that God
whom he expects to find resentful or turning his back, he finds turned toward
him with open arms that are willing to celebrate the return”. (Mar. 16, 1980
Hom.).
The mercy of
God is also revealed in his attitude to the adulterous woman. “We must take note in this gospel, which is
what we have to learn,” Romero preaches, inviting us to observe the
attitude of Jesus toward the sinner. (Mar. 23, 1980 Hom.). This is the
criterion to strike the right balance between mercy and justice. “A delicateness with the person. As sinful as
she might be, he distinguishes her as a child of God, the image of the Lord. No
condemnation, but forgiveness. Nor does he abide the sin; he is harsh in
rejecting sin but he makes a distinction: condemn the sin and save the sinner.”
(Id.)
With respect to
Salvadoran society (and every society), Blessed Romero urges that the law of
mercy be applied to achieve reconciliation with God and reconciliation among
men. “I invite you, brethren, as Pastor,
to listen to my words as an imperfect, coarse echo; but do not look at the
instrument, notice instead He that sends me to speak to you: the infinite love
of God,” Romero entreats. (Mar. 16, 1980 Hom.). “Repent, be reconciled, love one another, act as a baptized people, a
family of children of God!” (Id.)
Blessed Romero
is merciful to all, even to the rich. “I wish
to make a call—a fraternal and pastoral one—to the oligarchy, to be converted
and to live, and to assert its economic power in happiness of the people and
not in disgrace and ruin of our population,” he exhorts. (Feb. 24, 1980 Hom.).
Romero does not preach the destruction and downfall of the powerful class, but
its conversion so it can have life in full—“to
be converted and to live” and be a protagonist of “the happiness of the people.” Romero makes his call to
reconciliation extensive to the various sectors of Salvadoran society with
targeted appeals to each segment: the government, popular opposition groups, those
in armed insurrection (Mar. 16, 1980 Hom.), and finally, the army (Mar. 23, 1980
Hom.).
The last sermon
of Blessed Romero on the subject of mercy in Lent was not a requirement
addressed to all of us, but his own act of submission. “With Christian faith we know that at this time the Wheaten Host becomes
the Body of the Lord which was offered for the redemption of the world, and in
this cup the wine becomes the Blood that was price of salvation,” he prays
in his last words. (Mar. 24, 1980 Hom.). As he spoke these words, he stared at the
assassin, about to shoot the bullet that would snuff out his life. “May this body immolated and this blood
sacrificed for men also nourish us to give our body and blood to suffering and
pain, like Christ, not for self, but to bring harvests of justice and peace for
our people.” (Id.)
In apocryphal
words attributed to the martyr as he lay dying, there was one last preaching on
the subject. “May God have mercy on the
assassins!” This closes the circle: God does not desire sacrifice, but
mercy.
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