This is my second time with learning about Oscar Romero. My first experience was during the cross-cultural immersion program this past summer. We were studying Central America and my heart sunk as I learned about the injustices that the foreign policies of the United States promoted towards countries throughout Central America. I love the opening paragraph in chapter 1 of the Oscar Romero text. “In each of these ways – as pastor, prophet, and martyr – Oscar Romero united the love of God and the love of the poor with the heart of the mystic.”

This statement about loving God, and certainly loving people (especially the poor), resonates loudly within my heart. It so touches on the mission of Jesus as found in Luke 4:18-21 where we find Jesus pronouncing his mission on this earth as found in Isaiah 61 “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to bring good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim release to the captives and recovery of sight to the blind, to set free those who are oppressed, to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.”

“We learn to see the face of Christ – the face of Christ that also is the face of a suffering human being, the face of the crucified, the face of the poor….” Romero inspires me to want to get out of the church and be amongst the people on the streets. I am outraged by actions of the caudillo (Spanish for militaristic or political leaders, typically corrupt) who were so threatened by the life of Oscar Romero that they had him assassinated. Most importantly, Romero redefined what it means to be poor. I do not get a sense that he thinks of poor as having no money, he saw being poor as a good thing in terms of spirituality. “In a very real sense, Romero’s spirituality is the spirit of the poor. Romero found the poor of El Salvador to be truly blessed with spirit. As he opened his heart to them, they in turn gave back a hundredfold.”

Life Application:
I am sitting here in thought about Oscar Romero once again, and I can’t help but ask myself, what have I not learned yet from my first encounter? What new things do I need to open myself up to as it relates to Oscar? What things have I not fully surrendered to in my life?