Day 5

Mural outside the church

Today was really about calling--the calling of others in history and the calling of us in the present.  We had the privilege to visit Divinia Providencia which is the church where Monsenor Romero was assassinated.  We heard about his personal history of becoming an archbishop.  The church chose him because they felt he would be a very passive puppet for the interests of the wealthy in El Salvador during the late 1970s.  And at first, he did well conforming to their wishes.  During an army massacre of the Salvadorian people in 1977, one of his congregants phoned him to come and help--many were dying.  Monsenor Romero shared that he would "pray for them."  It was only days later that he decided to change his allegiances from the church hierarchy to those of his people.  This choice changed everything for him and for his people.  He choose to listen to them, visit them, help them and be a voice for their freedom.  All the while, he received death threats, but that did not stop him anymore.  His last sermon is considered prophetic as he spoke directly to the army of El Salvador, pleading with them and commanding them to stop the killing.  The next day, he was murdered during the final moments of his homily.  They shot him--the bullets went straight down the aisle and into his aorta as he stood behind the altar.  Romero died quickly with his body slumping directly underneath the crucifix.

Where Monsenor Romero died

We were able to engage in a ritual to bring history alive in our present moment today.  We heard Monsenor Romero preaching his final sermon on an audio recording.  We heard the gun shots and the people uproar.  At that point, we offered up a prayer and brought our words to the pictures of his death below the altar.  The word I picked for him was "faithful."  I later learned that this word was to be a gift to me.  It was to be the word that I live with and for as I leave this place.

So, I spent time today, living in further awakening of the calling I am and have been coming into throughout my life.  I am so grateful to be able to be in a space where I can clear my head and heart of distractions and listen.
"Therefore, since we are surrounded by a cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles.  And let us run the race marked out for us, fixing our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith."  Hebrews 12: 1-2