Yesterday afternoon we gathered in the Emmanuel sanctuary to mark the 29th anniversary of the assassination of Archbishop Oscar Romero. Over the years I have shared in prayers for Romero and El Salvador in many different congregations, but to share in communion with Salvadoran Canadians, with people who knew Romero, with a congregation of people who have for the most part lived or travelled to El Salvador is a very different experience.
In his last sermon, delivered on the day before his murder on March 23, 1980, Romero challenged soldiers of the National Guard to choose between God and their government: God’s law says “Thou shalt not kill” so do not obey any orders to kill another human being.
“In the name of God, and in the name of this suffering people whose laments rise to heaven each day more tumultuous, I beg you, I beseech you, I order you in the name of God: stop the repression. “
The sermon ended with those words, words that still ring with power all these years later. They underline one of the major themes of this season of lent, the cost of discipleship.
Peter
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