TWENTY-THIRD SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME

(-from a radio sermon by Saint Archbishop Oscar Romero of San Salvador)

“That is what the church wants: to disturb people’s consciences and to provoke a crisis in their lives. A church that does not provoke crisis, a gospel that does not disturb, a word of God that does not rankle, a word of God that does not touch the concrete sin of the society in which it is being proclaimed – what kind of gospel is that? Just nice, pious considerations that bother nobody – that’s the way many people would like our preaching to be. Those preachers who avoid every thorny subject so as not to bother anyone or cause conflict and difficulty shed no light on the reality in which they live.”

On March 24, 1980, while saying Mass in the chapel of the hospital in San Salvador, St Romero was gunned down by rightist government guerillas. Sadly, when people in power do not like the message, they eliminate the messenger. Nothing less happened to Jesus himself.

Do you and I shape the Gospel to our liking or do we let the Gospel shape us – especially when we don’t like the transformation that the Lord is hoping to effect in our lives?

Happy Sunday!

Father Bill +