Bishop Romero: a meek-and-mild clergyman who avoided controversy by hanging with the rich and powerful of El Salvador, became a fearless social justice warrior when a close friend and priest who spoke out against the powers-that-be was assassinated. St. Romero, of course, was assassinated while serving the Eucharist.
I invite you this week, in this hour when our country seems to have no place for joy, to listen to St. Paul repeat to us:
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“Be always joyful.
Be constant in prayer.
In every circumstance give thanks.
This is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.” (1 Thessalonians 5:16–17.)
The Christian, the Christian community, must not despair.
If someone dies in the family,
we must not weep like people without hope.
If the skies have darkened in our nation’s history,
let us not lose hope.
We are a community of hope,
and like the Israelites in Babylon,
let us hope for the hour of liberation.
It will come.
Because we live in hope, we’re children of the light.
It will come because God is faithful, says St. Paul.
This joy must be like a prayer.
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“He who called you is faithful,”
and he will keep his promises. (1 Thessalonians 5:24.)
— St. Oscar Romero, December 17, 1978
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*Learn more about the martyr Romero, who for all his fearless fighting against terribly evil forces backed by the U.S. government was a joy-filled priest of the people, here.
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