Zeal in Amending our Lives (5)

Zeal in Amending our Lives (5)

   How pleasant and sweet to behold brethren fervent and devout, well
mannered and disciplined! How sad and painful to see them wandering in
dissolution, not practicing the things to which they are called! How
hurtful it is to neglect the purpose of their vocation and to attend
to what is not their business!
   Remember the purpose you have undertaken, and keep in mind the
image of the Crucified. Even though you may have walked for many years
on the pathway to God, you may well be ashamed if, with the image of
Christ before you, you do not try to make yourself still more like
Him.
   The religious who concerns himself intently and devoutly with our
Lord=E2=80=99s most holy life and passion will find there an abundance of a=
ll
things useful and necessary for him. He need not seek for anything
better than Jesus.
--Thomas =C3=A0 Kempis --Imitation of Christ -- Chapter 25

<<>><<>><<>>
24 March =E2=80=93 Blessed =C3=93scar Arnulfo Romero y Gald=C3=A1mez

 Martyr (soon to be Canonised) Bishop, Martyr, Apostle of the Poor and
suppressed, Social Justice campaigner, Preacher, radio broadcaster =E2=80=
=93
born on 15 August 1917 in Ciudad Barrios, San Miguel, El Salvador =E2=80=93
martyred by being shot by a government-affiliated death squad on the
morning of 24 March 1980 in the chapel of La Divina Providencia
Hospital in San Salvador, El Salvador while celebrating Mass. Bl Oscar
was Beatified on 23 May 2015 by Pope Francis. Recognition celebrated
at Plaza Divino Salvador del Mundo, San Salvador, El Salvador,
Cardinal Angelo Amato, prefect of the Congregation for Causes of the
Saints, chief celebrant. On 6 March 2018, Pope Francis promulgated a
decree of a miracle obtained through the intercession of Blessed
Oscar, making way for his Canonisation later this year.

 Patronages =E2=80=93 Christian communicators, El Salvador, The Americas,
Archdiocese of San Salvador, Persecuted Christians, Caritas
International (co-patron).

Early life
Oscar Romero was born into a large family on 15 August 1917 in El
Salvador. Although they had more money than many of their neighbours,
Oscar=E2=80=99s family had neither electricity nor running water in their
small home and the children slept on the floor.  Oscar=E2=80=99s parents co=
uld
not afford to send him to school after the age of twelve, so he went
to work as an apprentice carpenter. He quickly showed great skills but
Oscar was already determined to become a priest. He entered the
seminary at the age of fourteen and was ordained a priest when he was
25 in 1942.

Recognising the power of radio to reach the people, he convinced five
radio stations to broadcast his Sunday sermons to peasant farmers who
believed they were unwelcome in the churches.

In 1970, he became Auxiliary Bishop in San Salvador. In 1974 he became
Bishop of Santiago de Maria.  At this time, Oscar Romero was described
as a conservative, not wanting to break from tradition. He supported
the hierarchy who encouraged conformity. He was uncomfortable with
social action that challenged political leaders.

Growing awareness during his two years as Bishop of Santiago de Maria,
Romero was horrified to find that children were dying because their
parents could not pay for simple medicines. He began using the
resources of the diocese and his own personal resources to help the
poor but he knew that simple charity was not enough. He wrote in his
diary that people who are poor should not just receive handouts from
the Church or the government but participate in changing their lives
for the future.

In 1977, Romero became Archbishop of San Salvador, the capital city.
The situation in El Salvador was becoming worse and he couldn=E2=80=99t rem=
ain
silent any longer. The military were killing the Salvadorian people =E2=80=
=93
especially those demanding justice such as teachers, nuns and priests
=E2=80=93 including Romero=E2=80=99s good friend, Fr Rutilio Grande.
Thousands of people began to go missing. Romero demanded that the
President of El Salvador thoroughly investigate the killings but he
failed to do so.

Voice of the voiceless
In his actions and words, Oscar demanded a peace that could only be
found by ensuring people had access to basic needs and their rights
upheld. He raised awareness globally about the people in his country
who had been killed or =E2=80=9Cdisappeared=E2=80=9D. When he visited the V=
atican in
1979, Oscar Romero presented the Pope with seven detailed reports of
murder, torture, and kidnapping throughout El Salvador. In 1979, the
number of people being killed rose to more than 3000 per month. Oscar
Romero had nothing left to offer his people except faith and hope. He
continued to use the radio broadcast of his Sunday sermons to tell
people what was happening throughout the country, to talk about the
role of the Church and to offer his listeners hope that they would not
suffer and die in vain.

Martyrdom
On March 23, 1980, after reporting the previous week=E2=80=99s deaths and
disappearances, Oscar Romero began to speak directly to soldiers and
policemen:  =E2=80=9CI beg you, I implore you, I order you=E2=80=A6 in the =
name of
God, stop the repression!=E2=80=9D The following evening, while saying Mass=
 in
the chapel of Divine Providence Hospital, Archbishop Oscar Romero was
shot by a paid assassin.

Only moments before his death, Romero spoke these prophetic words:
=E2=80=9CThose who surrender to the service of the poor through love of Chr=
ist
will live like the grain of wheat that dies=E2=80=A6 The harvest comes beca=
use
of the grain that dies.=E2=80=9D Like many great leaders who have fought fo=
r
truth, Oscar Romero was killed and became a martyr but his voice could
not be silenced. He is a symbol of hope in a country that has suffered
poverty, injustice and violence.
To date, no one has ever been prosecuted for the assassination, or
confessed to it. The gunman has not been identified.

Funeral
Romero was buried in the Metropolitan Cathedral of San Salvador
(Catedral Metropolitana de San Salvador). The Funeral Mass on 30 March
1980 in San Salvador was attended by more than 250,000 mourners from
all over the world. Viewing this attendance as a protest, Jesuit
priest John Dear has said, =E2=80=9CRomero=E2=80=99s funeral was the larges=
t
demonstration in Salvadoran history, some say in the history of Latin
America.=E2=80=9D

At the funeral, Cardinal Ernesto Corripio y Ahumada, speaking as the
personal delegate of St Pope John Paul II, eulogised Romero as a
=E2=80=9Cbeloved, peacemaking man of God,=E2=80=9D and stated that =E2=80=
=9Chis blood will
give fruit to brotherhood, love and peace.=E2=80=9D

Massacre at Romero=E2=80=99s funeral
During the ceremony, smoke bombs exploded on the streets near the
cathedral and subsequently there were rifle shots that came from
surrounding buildings, including the National Palace. Many people were
killed by gunfire and in the stampede of people running away from the
explosions and gunfire;  official sources reported 31 overall
casualties, while journalists recorded that between 30 and 50 died.
Some witnesses claimed it was government security forces that threw
bombs into the crowd and army sharpshooters, dressed as civilians,
that fired into the chaos from the balcony or roof of the National
Palace. However, there are contradictory accounts as to the course of
the events and =E2=80=9Cprobably, one will never know the truth about the
interrupted funeral.=E2=80=9D

As the gunfire continued, Romero=E2=80=99s body was buried in a crypt benea=
th
the sanctuary. Even after the burial, people continued to line up to
pay homage to their martyred prelate.

Spiritual life
Bl Oscar Romero noted in his diary on 4 February 1943:  =E2=80=9CIn recent
days the Lord has inspired in me a great desire for holiness. I have
been thinking of how far a soul can ascend if it lets itself be
possessed entirely by God.=E2=80=9D Commenting on this passage, James R
Brockman, S.J., Romero=E2=80=99s biographer and author of Romero:  A Life,
said that =E2=80=9CAll the evidence available indicates that he continued o=
n
his quest for holiness until the end of his life. But he also matured
in that quest.=E2=80=9D
According to Brockman, Romero=E2=80=99s spiritual journey had some of these
characteristics:
  1. love for the Church of Rome, shown by his episcopal motto, =E2=80=9Cto=
 be
of one mind with the Church,=E2=80=9D a phrase he took from St Ignatius=E2=
=80=99
Spiritual Exercises;
  2. a tendency to make a very deep examination of conscience;
  3. an emphasis on sincere piety;
  4. mortification and penance through his duties;
  5. providing protection for his chastity;
  6. spiritual direction;
  7. =E2=80=9Cbeing one with the Church incarnated in this people which sta=
nds
in need of liberation=E2=80=9D;
eagerness for contemplative prayer and finding God in others;
  8. fidelity to the will of God;
  9. self-offering to Jesus Christ.
  10. Romero was a strong advocate of the spiritual charism of Opus
Dei. He received weekly spiritual direction from a priest of the Opus
Dei movement. In 1975 he wrote in support of the cause of Canonisation
of Opus Dei=E2=80=99s founder, St Josemaria Escriv=C3=A1 (1902-1975), =E2=
=80=9CPersonally,
I owe deep gratitude to the priests involved with the Work, to whom I
have entrusted with much satisfaction the spiritual direction of my
own life and that of other priests.=E2=80=9D

https://anastpaul.com/2018/03/24/


Go to dark Gethsemane
James Montgomery (1771-1854)

Go to dark Gethsemane,
you that feel the tempter=E2=80=99s power,
your Redeemer=E2=80=99s conflict see,
watch with Him one bitter hour.
Turn not from His griefs away,
learn of Jesus Christ to pray.
Follow to the judgement hall,
view the Lord of life arraigned,
O the wormwood and the gall!
O the pangs His soul sustained!
Shun not suffering, shame or loss,
learn from Christ to bear the Cross.
Calvary=E2=80=99s mournful mountain climb,
there adoring at His feet.
Mark the miracle of time,
God=E2=80=99s own sacrifice complete,
=E2=80=9CIt is finished=E2=80=9D hear Him cry,
learn from Jesus Christ to die.