Romero's
Call for Prophets
Still in the first days of a US-driven war against
Iraq, we find ourselves in a moment of extreme
turbulence, fear, violence, and injustice. Today
marks the 23rd anniversary of the assassination
of Archbishop Oscar Romero in San Salvador,
a man who lived and preached in another moment
of extreme national turbulence and fear. On
March 24th, 1980, El Salvador was just embarking
on a 12-year civil war. Vast disparity of wealth
and resources in El Salvador were paralleled
only by lack of democracy and respect for human
life, as well as fear and violent repression
towards anyone bold enough -- prophetic enough--
to suggest alternatives.
Monseñor Romero was one of many prophets
who wasn't willing to resign himself to say,
"That's just the way it is." In his
final years, he used his position of prominence
to promote the Church's option for the poor
and to openly denounce injustice and violence.
Fully aware that his days were numbered, in
fact just one week before his assassination
and at the very start of the civil war in El
Salvador, he continued to warn of the futility
of suppressing the fruits of injustice with
violence. "Bloodshed," he said, "only
denies love, awakens new hate, and makes reconciliation
and peace impossible." (March 16, 1980).
Today, as Romero warned, violence has produced
more violence -- in all of its many forms --
and we find ourselves still in need of prophets.
As families in Iraq wonder whether they will
see tomorrow, economic disparity grows in El
Salvador, producing community disintegration,
the flight to cities and to the US, increased
crime, and decreased access to services basic
to human life and dignity. Even in the midst
of war, the US strives to tie up the Central
America Free Trade Agreement (CAFTA) in order
to move on to an Americas-wide version of the
same. And insecurity and fear within the US
since September 11, 2001 grows.
We look to Romero's example. His unwillingness
to say, "That's just the way it is."
His prophetic vision of the alternatives. And
his call to each of us to be prophets as well.
Prophets in the office, on the streets, in the
halls of Congress, in our places of worship.
Romero tells us: "Each of you must be a
microphone for God. Each of you must be a messenger,
a prophet... in professional careers, in the
workers' fields, in the market. Where there
is un bautizado, a believer, there is a prophet,
and the need to say something in the name of
truth and to expose lies... Let us not be cowards.
Let us not hide the talent God has given us....
but rather let us live the beauty and the responsibility
of being a prophetic people... Let us not judge
the church by the number of its members, or
by it buildings. Many of these [buildings] have
been stolen from the church and converted into
libraries, military barracks, and markets. That
doesn't matter. Walls will eventually fade into
history. What matters is you, the people, and
your hearts."
Prophets like Romero see today, but envisioned
tomorrow. They point out the ugly and the beautiful,
and implore us to strive for the latter. They
give us hope. They teach us how we, not as a
building but as the people and hearts that really
matter, can both see and envision. Prophets
like Romero teach us how we, also, can "live
the beauty and the responsibility of being a
prophetic people."
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