Subtotal: $
Checkout
“A church that does not provoke crisis, a gospel that does not disturb, a word of God that does not touch the concrete sin of the society in which it is being proclaimed – what kind of gospel is that?”
Gold Medal Winner, 2019 Benjamin Franklin Awards, IBPA
Silver Medal Winner, 2019 Illumination Awards
“A church that does not provoke crisis, a gospel that does not disturb, a word of God that does not touch the concrete sin of the society in which it is being proclaimed – what kind of gospel is that?”
Three short years transformed El Salvador’s Archbishop Oscar Romero from a conservative defender of the status quo into one of the most outspoken voices of the oppressed. An assassin’s bullet ended his life, but his challenge lives on. In March 2018 Pope Francis announced that the Catholic Church would canonize Oscar Romero, acknowledging that he is indeed a saint who was martyred for proclaiming the gospel, and that the political and social implications of that message, which so scandalized the powerful, flowed directly from Romero’s faithfulness to the teachings of Jesus.
These selections from Archbishop Oscar Romero’s diaries, letters, homilies, and radio talks invite each of us to align our own lives with the way of Jesus that lifts up the poor, welcomes the broken, wins over enemies, and transforms the history of entire nations.
As Pope Francis wrote on the occasion of Oscar Romero’s beatification in 2015, “Archbishop Romero, who built peace with the strength of love, gave witness to the faith with his life, given to the extreme….We give thanks to God because he granted the martyred bishop the ability to see and hear the suffering of his people, and molded his heart so that, in His name, he could direct them and illuminate them…. Archbishop Romero invites us to sanity and reflection, to respect for life and harmony. It is necessary to renounce ‘the violence of the sword, of hate’ and to live ‘the violence of love, that left Christ nailed to the Cross, that makes each one of us overcome selfishness and so that there be no more such cruel inequality between us.’ He knew how to see, and experienced in his own flesh, ‘the selfishness that hides itself in those who do not wish to give up what is theirs for the benefit of others.’ And, with the heart of a father, he would worry about the ‘poor majority,’ asking the powerful to convert ‘weapons into sickles for work.’ May those who have Archbishop Romero as a friend…find in him the strength and courage to build the kingdom of God, to commit to a more equal and dignified social order.”
View Table of ContentsWhat Romero reflects is love for enemies, a hunger for justice, and an advocacy for the oppressed that challenges deeply. Romero is not merely a social justice promoter, not only a preacher who found a version of the gospel that is foreign to most of us. He is a fusion of both of those things, a result much richer than the sum of its parts. This book will make you uncomfortable. It should. You should let it. Romero lived under constant threat of murder, a citizen of a country that openly oppressed the church. Yet he did not leave. He stayed and fought in the name of both Jesus and the voiceless, the disappeared, the silenced. Many of us will never know what it's like to have a life under that kind of pressure, but we should stay intimately familiar with our brothers and sisters who are.
As I read these sermons and diary entries, they revealed a gospel that was not an opiate for those crying out “how long?” but a call to Christ-centered faith, to holiness in all of life, and a courageous refusal to allow authorities to cover oppression and violence and exploitation with a cloak of spiritual legitimacy.
I was reading this book while listening to the BBC news in the background yesterday and was intrigued when I heard that the Vatican had declared that Oscar Romero would be canonized into a saint. This book provides insights on the man and his fight against oppression, especially from a state and a people who expected him to stay silent and stick to his priestly duties. I was saddened upon reading about how he was assassinated and do hope that his legacy does live on.
This rich book of lived faith was my companion as Hurricane Florence bore down directly upon me. This is a book of hope, and one does not have to be Salvadoran to appreciate its universal beauty. It has been a hard time to be a Catholic these recent months; the courage and witness of Oscar Romero restores our faith in the Church, not a place of power and buildings but as a people of faith and community. This is a book for all people.
Romero was just a man that promoted a false political ideology and used the most vulnerable people to try to accomplished it filling them with lies and false hope. Thanks to this man thousands were killed. He was one of the responsibles to bring such pain, sadness and destruction to El Salvador.
A short introduction to a powerful priest of the Church, who continues to challenge the Body of Christ in the world… This collection brings us the spiritual depth of that life, focused on peace-making and a love for the poor that echo Jesus' own words. Romero is nothing other than a modern-day Lukan evangelist. His preaching is centered on Jesus, on those who follow Jesus to love the poor and oppressed, and on the work against the Powers that dehumanize human thriving. It is a powerful witness of the scandal of God's redemption against those Powers.
Introduction: Who Was Oscar Romero?
