Before I Forget…

Everything that happened to the poor was now seen through the light of the gospel.  Even Rome distrusted Archbishop Romero. 
In an interview two weeks before his assassination, Archbishop Romero said: 
"I have frequently been threatened with death. I must say that, as a Christian, I do not believe in death but in the resurrection.  If they kill me, I shall rise again in the Salvadoran people. 
Martyrdom is a great gift from God that I do not believe I have earned.  But if God accepts the sacrifice of my life, then may my blood be the seed of liberty, and a sign of hope that will soon become a reality… A bishop will die, but for the church of God--the people - will never die." 
And the list of Martyrs continues.  In 1996, seven    Trappist monks (originally from France) were murdered in Algeria.  The superior of the monastery, Father Christian de Chergé, wrote these words in a letter to his family, only to be opened in the event of death: 
"If it were ever to happen… that I should be the victim of terrorism that seems to be engulfing all the foreigners now living in Algeria, I would like my community, my church, my family to remember that my life was given to God and to this country."
  In December 1980, the bodies of four North American women were discovered buried in El Salvador where they were missionaries.  Maura Clarke and Ita Ford were Maryknoll sisters.  Dorothy Kozel was an Ursuline Nun from Cleveland, as well as Jean Donovan, a lay missionary.  Jean, only 27, considered marriage and a lucrative career before choosing to stay in El Salvador with the poor.  All four were called by Christ to live out their faith in solidarity with the poor.  All four were buried in a cow  pasture. 
Church history is written in the blood of the martyrs, from Stephen the Deacon down to today.  The new martyrs of our times are often killed by people who call themselves Christians and defenders of Christian values!  Father Delp, Archbishop Romero, and the four Churchwomen, Ita, Maura, Dorothy, and Jean, were killed by other Christians. 
Do we believe in the vision of Jesus?  Are you convinced by Jesus who presented an entirely new vision of what it means to be a human being, a vision rooted inunsentimental love that shows a way out of destructive self-interest? 
It is extremely challenging and rewarding to try to live the vision of Jesus, like our martyrs have:  to love your enemies, to turn the other cheek, to feed the 5,000, to travel lightly, to forgive, and to be slow to judge, to live among and serve ordinary people, 
What is your response, my response, to Jesus who says:  Blessed are the peacemakers?  Love your neighbor as your self?  Not my will but Yours be done?  It's more difficult for the rich to get into heaven than for a camel…?
Peace!  Be Peace!  Make Peace!  We are servants of the Prince of Peace!  Once we commit to Jesus and this gospel, all is peace!

               Fr. Bill 

The central character in the play A Man for All Seasons is Sir Thomas More, now a saint of the Catholic Church.  Thomas was an advisor to the infamous King Henry VIII.  Henry wants to divorce his wife Catherine and marry Ann.  Thomas is a lawyer and a Roman Catholic.  He must choose between his religious beliefs as a Roman Catholic and his loyalty to the king. In the end, Sir Thomas More chooses his faith over his royal position.  He faces his     execution with courage and calmness. 
A character called the "Common Man" narrates A Man for All Seasons.  He represents all of us who don't have the courage of our convictions.  Common Man never makes waves.  Common Man chooses apathy and silence over  sacrifice.  There is nothing he would die for.  Common Man's last words after the execution of Sir Thomas More are, "You know, it's not hard to stay alive… just don't make trouble."
For the last 2,000 years there have been thousands of people like St. Thomas More. People like you and me who have died as martyrs because of Jesus Christ and His Vision.   We continue to have Christian martyrs who are our contemporaries…
Alfred Delp (1907-1945), a Jesuit priest and martyr --
"My offense is that I believed in Germany and her eventual emergence from this dark hour of error and distress, that I refused to accept that accumulation of arrogance, pride, and force that is the Nazi way of life, and that I did this as a Christian and a Jesuit."   
In a final message to his friends, he asked them not to mourn and to be clear in their minds that he was "sacrificed, not conquered."  With the same hope that had led him in the first place to imagine a future beyond the Third Reich, that had led to his imprisonment, and had ultimately sustained him in his prison cell, he wrote, "If through one man's life there is a little more love and kindness, a little more light and truth in the world, then he will not have lived in vain."  Father Delp, age 38, was hanged in prison by the Nazis on February 2, 1945. 
Oscar Romero (1917-1980), Archbishop and martyr of San Salvador:  Known as a pious and conservative bishop when he was chosen to be Archbishop of San Salvador in 1977, no one thought he would challenge the status quo.  In three years he became the voice for the voiceless.  His fellow bishops turned against him and Oscar was hated by the rich and powerful of his country.  He was assassinated as he presided at Mass on March 24, 1980.   
Something changed Oscar once he became archbishop.  Within weeks of being named archbishop, he found himself presiding at the funeral of his friend Rutilio Grande, a Jesuit priest, who was assassinated as a result of his commitment to social justice.
  (Grande, 1928 - 1977, said, "It is a dangerous thing to be a Christian in our world."  He died a martyr at the age of 49 on March 12, 1977.) 
Oscar had a conversion as a result of Grande's death, and he became an outspoken champion of justice.  Why?