The 37th annual Romero Mass commemorates the martyrdom of Archbishop Blessed Oscar Romero, the onetime Archbishop of El Salvador.
Archbishop Romero believed that each person’s life, each one’s history is his or her meeting place with God. And this is one of the things he can teach us: God is active in our lives.
Romero chose sides in the complex, violent socio-political reality of his time but still maintained his commitment to non-violence. He positioned himself in a very narrow space where he could speak truth publicly and privately based on the stories he heard and the reality he witnessed day after day – where he could plead for an end to all the violence, for a peace that was not, in his words, ‘the silence of cemeteries’. Every Sunday in his homily at the Cathedral he would name all those who had been killed that week.
Archbishop Romero’s deep spirituality and his powerful witness make him an exceptional model for would-be disciples of Jesus. He is like a brother to Pope Francis who has warned us recently about losing the Gospel in ‘an ocean of words’.
There are only two places in the world that have commemorated his assassination every year since he was murdered in 1980: one is El Salvador and the other is here in our archdiocese of Liverpool.
All are welcome to attend this Mass, which will be celebrated by Archbishop Malcolm McMahon.
