Friday, May 25, 2018

Archbishop calls for dissemination of Romero’s “doctrine”


JUBILEE YEAR for the CENTENNIAL of BLESSED ROMERO, 2016 — 2017

Television Catolica Arquidiocesana photo.
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In his homily to mark the third anniversary of the beatification of Oscar Romero, the current Archbishop of San Salvador, Msgr. Jose Luis Escobar Alas preached about the need to learn the “doctrine” of Archbishop Romero in order to build up the kingdom and put into practice the Gospel of Jesus.  [VIDEO.]  Here is an excerpt:
We could well say with the Apostle to the Gentiles that “where sin abounded, grace abounded much more,” as he writes in the Letter to the Romans, in chapter eight. The setting in which Archbishop Romero lived and died was one of great suffering.  A very difficult moment which, after thirty-eight years, has not changed much. This historical moment remains difficult. But God speaks. The sky has opened. His grace is poured out on us and this moves us to hope, to faith. It gives us courage to work as Pope Francis himself has suggested to us, to build the kingdom of God. In the figure of Archbishop Romero, in his person, which is so near, so with us, we find strength and courage to work for the kingdom of God, committed to a new and more just social order.
It is to be hoped that the person of Archbishop Romero will be well known and beloved and will take his rightful place as the greatest son of this country in all of its history [applause] and that his doctrine will be learned, rehearsed, and put into practice.
Archbishop Romero worked tirelessly and with the greatest generosity, to give his life for the good of this people, for the love of this people, for the good of his brothers and sisters, his flock, his sheep; fighting with all his soul and with all his being so that there was peace—peace with social justice, peace that dignifies people. And, as we have said, almost fifty years later, the ideal of Archbishop Romero has not been fulfilled. From heaven, he intercedes for us. We must constantly invoke him, but we must also work by following in his footsteps, putting his doctrine into practice.
It is to be hoped that the figure and the magisterium of Archbishop Romero will be a school subject in all the educational establishments of this country, so that all the students will know Archbishop Romero. And, of course it is to be hoped that in all the churches, in each of the parishes, in each of the communities, that we know, meditate, and practice his doctrine, in such a way that the teachings of Archbishop Romero will acquire in us what he wanted so much. A new society. A society that has overcome social exclusion. A society that has overcome injustice, the great economic inequities. A society that has overcome corruption, impunity, and selfishness. Let no one bow down before the idols of money and power. That the love of God prevails, the love of neighbor, the dignity of the person and respect for his or her rights. Without exception. Where no one is less than anyone else.
We are a Christian people. It is an imperative then to put into practice the gospel that Christ has left us, giving us the best example—washing the feet of his disciples, dying on the cross for our salvation. It is the same Gospel that Archbishop Romero preached and lived in a radical way. It is the gospel that moves us to be better, to be more just, to grow in dignity and in holiness in the eyes of God, always doing good.

At the end of the Mass, Salvadoran Cardinal Gregorio Rosa Chavez proposed that the faithful read Romero’s diaries in order to be exposed to Romero’s thinking ahead of his October canonization.
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