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JUBILEE YEAR for the CENTENNIAL of BLESSED
ROMERO, 2016 — 2017
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| Television Catolica Arquidiocesana photo. |
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.
[Partial
index of the blog]
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