March 28, 2007 - "Fr. Oscar Romero"

Title: “Fr. Oscar Romero”
Text: Jeremiah 20:7-12
Day: SPECIAL LENTEN SERVICE
Date: March 28, 2007

In preparation for this sermon this week, I tried to think: of any job in the world, which might be considered the most difficult? I thought of several, of course: Surgeon, Divorce Attorney, Child Protective Service agent, Financial Planner.

I would agree that all of these jobs are incredibly difficult. Yet, there is one that is still more difficult in my opinion than all of these put together: it is the job of a prophet. Let me explain: a prophet is a regular person called by God to be a voice – no, a megaphone! – to speak into the world and to reveal the world’s truest truths about itself. What makes this job particularly difficult is that the world is often not willing or able to listen to these blunt statements of truth. Often, prophets end up isolated, shunned by the very community that once upheld them. More often than not, prophets are killed because the world cannot tolerate their truth-speaking. Yup…I would hate to have the job of a prophet.

To get a better understanding of what prophets are called to do, let’s take a look at a few examples – beginning with the prophet Jeremiah. Jeremiah was a typical guy who was called to prophesy to Judah and Israel at the turn of the sixth century BCE. His truth-speaking words revealed the fact that the Israelites had not lived according to the covenant that they had made with God centuries earlier. They were worshipping other gods. They were not treating their poor or the helpless with care. Everyone was out for their own gain, with no thought for the effect this would have on their neighbor.

It was into this situation that God called Jeremiah to be a voice – a megaphone – to speak a word of truth. Jeremiah was called to be the person to openly declare that their actions would be the cause for their destruction. Soon, this nation would be destroyed by a foreign nation, namely, Babylon. Yet Jeremiah was ridiculed by the people. His words were not taken seriously. Perhaps the truths that Jeremiah spoke were too hard to bear.

So in tonight’s reading we hear Jeremiah complaining to God for calling him to this impossible task. “I have become a laughing-stock all day long; everyone mocks me,” he says. No longer does Jeremiah wish to carry on with the prophetic message of doom, violence and destruction; but then he confesses that if he stops his prophetic task, if he stops speaking these truthful truths into the world “then within [him] there is something like a burning fire shut up in [his] bones. [He is] weary with holding it in, and [he] cannot.” Ultimately, Jeremiah continues with his prophetic mission and is eventually put in chains to die. The world, you see, could not stand listening to his loud messages proclaiming the painful, yet truthful truths of the world’s situation. Yup…I would hate to have the job of a prophet.

Let’s take a look at another example of a prophet, this one from a more modern era. This is the life of one Father Oscar Romero. Oscar was born in 1917 in El Salvador – a country that was just on the cusp of a national disaster with the economic depression of the 1930s. The result of this event was that the poor farmers who tended coffee plantations of the wealthy landowners were fired, left to try to survive on their own with the little money that they had.

It was just at this time, that Oscar Romero began to feel his call to enter the priesthood of the Catholic church. He began his seminary training at age thirteen in El Salvador, and by the time he was twenty years old he was sent to continue his seminary training in Rome. The living situation was not much better there, however, because – as you know – the 1930s were a tumultuous time in Europe, too. Somehow, Oscar Romero completed his seminary degree in Rome in the midst of World War II. He was ordained, and he moved back to El Salvador.

In short, he turned out to be a pretty conservative, quiet priest. He played by the rules of the militaristic government, doing the same as many did in those days by turning a blind eye to the oppression and outright murders of thousands of those poor, pesky peasants. In 1975 he became a Bishop, and just two years later he was appointed Archbishop of San Salvador – the capital city of El Salvador.

There were many in the country who were enthusiastic about his appointment (including the government) because of his conservative reputation. They knew that he would not participate in the revolts taking place in various factions of the country. At the same time, the poor farmers of El Salvador were heartbroken because they knew that the newly appointed Archbishop would not speak a word of justice in their behalf.

But a crucial event only three months after he took office changed Oscar Romero forever. One of his greatest friends, a fellow priest, was assassinated for speaking out against the oppressive government and aligning himself with the poor. Suddenly, it was as if Oscar’s eyes were opened for the first time, revealing the horrors that had been occurring right in front of him all along. Without skipping a beat, Archbishop Romero felt a call, an urge, to speak out against the state, to speak the painful, yet truthful truth about his country’s situation, to take on the role of a prophet.

By 1980, it seems that the conservative, timid, quiet Oscar Romero had become one of the leading speakers of the Liberation movement, aiming to speak out against the terrible violence that had erupted in El Salvador. He began broadcasting his homilies and sermons and speeches over a Church-owned radio station that was carefully monitored by the government. He must have known that this was a dangerous undertaking, one that could eventually lead to his death, but I imagine him speaking the words with Jeremiah saying, “If I don’t speak out, then within me there is something like a burning fire shut up in my bones; I am weary with holding it in, and I cannot.” In a famous radio broadcast, he made the following statement:
"If some day they take away the radio station from us . . . if they don't let us speak, if they kill all the priests and the bishop too, and you are left a people without priests, each one of you must become God's microphone, each one of you must become a prophet."

On March 23rd, 1980, Romero gave a powerful sermon at a church begging the military forces to stop blindly following commands to kill which were clearly against the will of God. On March 24th, the next day, Romero himself was the target of one of these orders. He was killed by a gunshot while celebrating Mass at a small chapel in San Salvador. His prophetic mission, his prophetic words of truth were too much for the world to bear; and like many other prophets before him, these words led to his death. Yup…I would hate to have the job of a prophet.

It just so happens, however, that being a prophet is part of my vocation...and it just so happens that it is part of your vocation, too. It is a vocation that many of us entered when we were still infants. It is a vocation that began in the waters of our baptism and which was affirmed for many of us through confirmation.

I want you to take a look at the LBW – the green hymnal – in front of you. Open it up to page number 201. This is part of the Affirmation of Baptism rite, a rite that will be used in just a few weeks as a number of our youth will be confirmed. What is outlined at the top of this page is a brief summary of our calling – our vocation as Christians: “To live among God’s faithful people, to hear his Word and share in his supper, to proclaim the good news of God in Christ through word and deed, to serve all people, following the example of our Lord Jesus, and…to strive for justice and peace in all the earth.” We are called by God to be a voice – a megaphone – to speak into the world and to reveal the world’s truest truths. We are all called to the prophetic task.

So, to what end will you use your prophetic voice? How is God calling you to speak out? Will you be an advocate for victims of war, hate, or racism? Will you speak a word on behalf of those in our world who do not have a voice, like children? Will you petition our government to be more judicious and responsible with financial resources? Will you be a voice and a presence serving to protect this beautiful world in which we live? There are any number of things to which our prophetic voices can be directed.

I understand completely if you leave here tonight grumbling under your breath, thinking to yourself, “Wow, I really do not want to be a prophet.” But I also hope that you leave here knowing that you have been called to the prophetic task, to be one prophet among many, to be one voice among millions. What a powerful voice, what a powerful vocation we have.