MICHAEL SPENCER HERZOG
7 May 2006

EASTER PEOPLE
OSCAR ROMERO

We’d probably agree that Jesus said a lot of things.  Some Bibles help us out and have the things that Jesus said printed in red.  Then there’s the “Five Gospels” from the Jesus Seminar people that has the things the red letter Bibles have in red printed in red or pink or gray or black.  The “Five Gospels” writers think that Jesus actually said less than the red letter people think he said.   A lot less.  So, just for the fun of it I made a quick and dirty count of the red letter pages in my red letter Bible.  The Gospels and the Book of Acts have the equivalent of fewer than forty pages of things Jesus said.  That’s not very much, actually.

But then there are the various translations and paraphrases and dozens of different versions of the Bible.  Even within one version, the four Gospels don’t always agree on what Jesus said.   What I’m saying is that is very difficult to know what Jesus said.  We can’t know.  And I don’t want to stir up trouble here, but I don’t really think it makes a lot of difference that we know exactly what Jesus said.

We who consider ourselves to be Christians have agreed on some basics, some core concepts, a basic message -- things that Jesus preached and taught, like:  “Love one another,”  “Love your neighbor as yourself,”  “Turn the other cheek,” “Judge not,”  “Do unto others as as you would have them do unto you.”   We have the image of Jesus at the beginning of his ministry standing in the temple and reading from Isaiah:  “He has anointed me to preach good news to the poor.  He has sent me to proclaim release to the captives and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty those who are oppressed.”  Powerful words.
 
So, there is a Christian ethos.  There is a set of Christian values that we can all pretty much agree on -- whether liberal or conservative, progressive or fundamental, traditional or emerging paradigm -- all the prefixes that we attach to Christian that have a way of dividing us.  There is a way of behaving, of relating to the world, that is decidedly . . . “Christian.”  A unifying message.  We know it when we see it. 

In the Gospel passage today we have the enduring image of Jesus that most Christians would agree with -- Jesus as the Good Shepherd,  who lays down his life for his sheep.  And the Epistle lesson talks about using our resources -- our material wealth -- even our very lives -- to meet the needs of our brothers and sisters.  And in that way the world will know us.  They’ll know we are Christians by our love.  Those are Christian images, Christian values,  Christian ideals. 

That’s what Easter People do.  They take the Christian ideals seriously.   That sort of behavior can change the world.  It can also be hazardous to your health. 

We hold up one of those Easter People today in Bishop Oscar Romero of El Salvador:

OSCAR ROMERO was born in the mountains in the eastern part of the tiny Central American country of El Salvador, on 15 August 1917. He was the second of seven children.  When he was thirteen he declared a vocation to the priesthood.

He went to a seminary in San Miguel and from there to study in Rome.  He was ordained a priest in the Roman Catholic Church in 1942.  Two years later he was recalled to El Salvador and was soon secretary of the San Miguel diocese.  His work flourished and his reputation grew.  He inspired many with his sermons which were broadcast locally on the radio.

The Vatican Council of the early 1960s under Pope John introduced new ideas about the church in the world.  The concept of Liberation Theology was introduced, but Romero was not favorably inclined toward the new Catholicism.  He was a traditionalist, a professional churchman who supported the establishment.  The church,  the government, the wealthy landowners, the military, all made up the power structure in El Salvador.  The church held a demeaning paternalistic attitude toward the native peoples.

His career progressed and later as an auxiliary bishop he excelled as an administrator.  He was conservative in his views and temperament.  In 1977 Oscar Romero became archbishop of San Salvador.  He was sixty years old.

El Salvador is the smallest of the Latin American republics.  About the size of the state of Massachusetts.  It was part of the Spanish empire for three-hundred years.  In 1821 it declared its independence from Spain.  It is a poor densely populated country which depends heavily on coffee for its economy.

International demand for coffee was great and soon powerful private interests took over vast tracts of land, driving the native peoples off their ancestral farms.  By 1920 the landowning class was made up of just fourteen families.  The dislocated natives either labored as serfs on the coffee plantations or moved to the cities to starve there without employment.  One-half of one per cent of the population owned 90% of the country’s wealth.

In 1932 at the height of the worldwide economic depression, coffee prices fell sharply and El Salvador erupted into civil rebellion as people were forced into poverty.  30,000 died in the first uprising.  The church supported the suppression of the rebellion.  They characterized the leaders of the uprising as “communists” and a danger to the republic.  Oscar Romero, who was then in charge of the Catholic magazine, reversed editorial policy and stopped speaking out against social injustice.  Romero instead focussed on fighting alcoholism, drug-addiction, and pornography while the rural people were being butchered by the military.

In 1975 the National Guard raided a village in Romero’s diocese. In the early-morning attack people were hacked apart with machetes as soldiers rampaged from house to house, ostensibly searching for concealed weapons.  The event shook Romero deeply.  At the funeral for the victims Romero’s sermon condemned the violation of human rights.  He wrote to the president of  El Salvador, naively thinking that a major clergyman’s objection would carry weight.  It didn’t.

This was Oscar Romero’s Conversion Experience.  An abrupt repentance -- a turning around -- from supporting the institution of the church, to which he had devoted his entire life, to supporting the simple human rights of God’s children. 

The ruling alliance of landowners, government officials, and military leaders intensified its opposition to reform.  Six radical priests were arrested and deported to  Guatemala.  One of them remarked that the church finally was where it was supposed to be -- with the people.  Romero’s first task as archbishop was grim -- he had to bury dozens of native people whom soldiers had machine-gunned when 50,000 protesters demonstrated against corrupt election practices.

Both the United States and Cuba played a part in the unrest.  Acting on the principle of fighting communism in the Americas, the United States sent six-billion dollars in aid to the repressive government of El Salvador -- most of which went to weapons for the military to use against the popular uprising.  Romero wrote to Presidents Carter and Reagan to explain what was happening in his country but was ignored.

Romero’s “conversion experience” was complete. The good man became a better man -- bigger -- more complete.  The man of God became a Godly man.  He took on the role of the Good Shepherd.  With hope born of the Resurrection -- he became one of the Easter People.  He knew at last what the gospel required of church leaders in the face of the people’s misery.  All the priests under his authority were instructed to provide sanctuary to those threatened by government Death Squads.

A Jesuit friend of Romero’s who had struggled to bring about social reforms, was gunned down in his jeep, together with an old man and sixteen year-old boy. Romero prayed publicly beside his friend’s body, and then buried all three victims without first securing government permission –- which was a criminal offense.  Next he did the unthinkable -- he excommunicated the murderers.  In a dramatic gesture he canceled all services the following Sunday except for a single mass in front of the cathedral which he conducted outdoors before 100,000 people.  When called to Rome  to explain his actions, the pope advised Romero to, “Have Courage.”  Courage was required.  Right-wing groups back home were distributing leaflets that said, “Be a patriot: kill a priest.”

In one village anyone found possessing a Bible or hymnbook was arrested. Four foreign Jesuits were tortured, their bodies dumped in neighboring Guatemala.  Thousands of people disappeared without trace.  In all of this Romero never backed down.  He preached that, “Christians must be fellow workers in the truth in anticipation of new heavens and a new earth in which righteousness dwells.”

Knowing himself to be on the government’s “hit list,” he went into the hills to prepare himself for his final confrontation.  He telephoned his farewell message to Mexico’s premier newspaper, insisting that like the Good Shepherd, a pastor must give his life for those he loves.

On the 24th of March 1980 Oscar Romero was shot by a sniper while conducting mass at the funeral of a friend’s mother.  His assassin escaped in the crowd and was never found.  A quarter of a million people crowded into the Cathedral Square for Romero’s funeral.  A bomb exploded. People stampeded.  Forty died.  Fifteen per cent of the population was driven into exile.  Two thousand simply “disappeared.”

In the twelve years following Romero’s assassination civil war raged in El Salvador.  At least 75,000 were killed.  In 1992 with United Nations involvement, the government and leftist rebels agreed upon military and political reforms.    Loans from the World Bank were made available.  It was no longer just El Salvador’s dirty little problem but the world community became involved.  The Death Squads were disbanded.  The ruling class no longer protected its position with guns and machetes.  Elections were held.   Things changed.

Oscar Romero’s death focused the world’s attention on the injustice and oppression in El Salvador.  The Good Shepherd laid down his life for his sheep.  This conservative establishment churchman was transformed into a fearless reformer.  Easter People take Christian values seriously.  “Feed my sheep.”  Oscar Romero tended his flock and gave his life for them.

Oscar Romero helped to bring about great improvements in the lives of his people and stirred the conscience of the world to oppose crimes against humanity.  We as Easter People, with the help of the Holy Spirit,  living lives based on Christian values, can be agents of change too . . . in the world -- in our communities -- in our families -- in ourselves.

Let there be peace on Earth  -- and let it begin with me.