Óscar Arnulfo Romero y Galdamez was born in a small village in El Salvador in 1917. Ordained priest, he was known as a quiet and unassuming pastor. By 1977, amidst the political and social turmoil suffered by his country, he was therefore seen as a neutral choice to be its Archbishop. Courageously, however, he began to speak out against violence and his homilies supported the demands of the poor for economic and social justice. He refused to be silenced and continued to preach even under threat of assassination. On 24th March 1980, whilst presiding at Mass, Archbishop Romero was assassinated by a gunman. The canonisation of Óscar Romero took place on 14 October 2018 in Rome, at a Mass celebrated by Pope Francis.
“I must tell you, as a Christian, I do not believe in death without resurrection.
If I am killed, I shall arise in the Salvadoran people”. Óscar Romero
WORLD PRAYER FOR PEACE
(Satish Kumar)
Lead me from death to life,
from falsehood to truth.
Lead me from despair to hope,
from fear to trust.
Lead me from hate to love,
from war to peace.
Let peace fill our hearts,
our world,
our universe.
Peace……peace….
peace.
O God, make speed to save us
O Lord, make haste to help us.
The Spirit of God be our guide
to lead us to peace and to glory.
PENITENCE - A SONG OF HUMILITY
Come, let us return to the Lord who has torn us and will heal us.
God has stricken us and will bind up our wounds.
After two days, he will revive us, and on the third day will raise us up, that we may live in his presence.
Let us humble ourselves; let us strive to know our God,
Whose justice dawns like the morning star; its dawning is as sure as the sunrise.
God’s justice will come to us like the showers, like the spring rains that water the earth.
‘Your love for me is like the morning mist, like the dew that goes early away.
‘Therefore, I have hewn them by the prophets, and my judgement goes forth as the light.
‘For loyalty is my desire and not sacrifice, and the knowledge of God rather than burnt-offerings.’
Hosea 6. 1-6
A time to review how today has been,
and how I have responded to it:
Lord, I commit my all into your hands,
and I bring for your healing
the people and the situations,
the wrongs and the hurts of the past.
Give me courage, strength and generosity
to let go and move on,
leaving the past behind me,
and living the present to the full. (St.Augustine)
Almighty God, you called your servant Óscar Romero to be a voice for the voiceless poor, and to give his life as a seed of freedom and a sign of hope:
Grant that, inspired by his sacrifice
and the example of the martyrs of El Salvador, we may without fear or favour witness to your Word who is Life, even Jesus Christ our Lord, to whom, with you and the Holy Spirit,
be praise and glory now and for ever. Amen.
John 12:23–32
Jesus said, “The hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified.
Very truly, I tell you, unless a grain of wheat
falls into the earth and dies,
it remains just a single grain;
but if it dies, it bears much fruit.
Those who love their life lose it,
and those who hate their life in this world
will keep it for eternal life.
Whoever serves me must follow me,
and where I am, there will my servant be also.
Whoever serves me, the Father will honour.
“Now my soul is troubled. And what should I say—
‘Father, save me from this hour’?
No, it is for this reason that I have come to this hour.
Father, glorify your name.”
Then a voice came from heaven,
“I have glorified it, and I will glorify it again.”
The crowd standing there heard it and said that it was thunder.
Others said, “An angel has spoken to him.”
Jesus answered, “This voice has come for your sake, not for mine.
Now is the judgment of this world;
now the ruler of this world will be driven out.
And I, when I am lifted up from the earth,
will draw all people to myself.”
WORDS FOR REFLECTION FROM ST ÓSCAR ROMERO
“A Church that doesn’t provoke any crisis
A Gospel that doesn’t unsettle,
A word of God that doesn’t get under any one’s skin,
A word of God that doesn’t touch the real sin of the society around us,
What Gospel is that!?
The Gospel of Christ is courageous,
The good news of Him who came to transform.
Pause for Reflection
“We must be a humble, listening Church. We must search for the answers to complex questions and challenges today, and not presume that we know the answers. Often, we must admit humbly that we don’t have the answers.”
Pause for Reflection
“This is what we are about.
We lay the foundations that will need further development.
We provide yeast that produces effects far beyond our capabilities.
We cannot do everything
and there is a sense of liberation in realising that.
This enables us to do something and do it well.
It may be incomplete, but is a beginning, a step along the way,
an opportunity for the Lord’s grace to enter and do the rest.
We may never see the end results,
but that is the difference between the master builder and the worker.
We are the workers, not the master builders,
Ministers, not Messiahs.
We are the prophets of a future not our own.”
Pause for Reflection
THE MAGNIFICAT interpreted by Olga Warnke IBVM
My soul glorifies the Lord,
My Spirit rejoices in God my Saviour.
For he has blessed me lavishly,
and makes me ready to respond.
He shatters my little world
and lets me be poor before him.
He takes from me all my plans, and gives me more than I can hope for or ask.
He gives me opportunities, and the ability to become free, and burst through my boundaries.
He gives the strength to be daring,
to build on him alone,
for he shows himself as the ever-greater one in my life.
He has made this known to me:
it is in my being servant that it becomes possible
for God’s Kingdom to break through, here and now.
Glory to God, Source of all being,
Eternal Word and Holy Spirit:
as it was in the beginning, is now,
and shall be for ever. Amen.
OUR FATHER……
Christ the Good Shepherd,
who laid down his life for the sheep,
draw us and all who hear his voice,
to be one flock within one fold;
and may the blessing of God Almighty,
the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit,
be amongst us, and remain with us always.
Bear one another’s burdens
and so fulfil the law of Christ.
Let us bless the Lord;
thanks be to God.