A New Saint for America

Romero!
We, Catholics, will be hearing that name a lot in these days. On Sunday, October 14, Archbishop Oscar Romero will be canonized as a saint. We will add to our calendar still another American saint.
He is another from Central America, El Salvador specifically. He is also quite unique among our American saints.
Among them we currently number a few martyrs, foundresses of religious communities, social workers, another bishop, members of religious communities including a certain "almost saint" doorkeeper who is of local pride.
 Oscar is uniqure because he is a bishop (archbishop, to be exact) and a martyr. He was shot and killed while presiding at Mass at the altar. He was assassinated one day after he called for the military of his country to disobey immoral orders, orders that called on them to suppress, repress and even eliminate the poor, the indigenous, the workers who were standing in the way of the whims and wishes of the wealthy, those we today might called the one percent. Oscar was being a voice for the voiceless.
Oscar had a reputation for keeping his nose in his own business, of not making waves, not stirring things up. When he was chosen as archbishop of San Salvador, the haves rejoiced because they thought they had one more of their own in a high place.
But he was paying attention to what was actually going on in his country, to what the haves were doing to the voiceless, to what the Gospel was saying about situations like this. He chose to listen to the voice of God rather than the voices of the rich and the powerful.
For this he paid the ultimate price.
He was a bishop who had the smell of the sheep.
And for that he paid the ultimate price.
He is the first bishop to be killed at the altar since Thomas a'Becket in the twelfth century.
As he is being canonized, there is much attention to his life. Amazon Prime has available, free to Prime members, the film telling his story. Watch it if you can. Come to appreciate this man.
This weekend EWTN is featuring the same film. Check that out and again, watch if you can.
Don't know if you can access this if you are not a subscriber but Liturgical Press, Give Us This Day is providing a brief, three minute mini-biography. Check their web site to see if ou can get a view.
I say get to know this man because the source of his holiness is a lesson for us, especially us right here, right now in the United States. His life has something to say to us, something about not always sitting quietly by and just letting whatever happen. We have a duty and responsibility to be the voice of reason, the voice of wisdom, the voice of the Lord Jesus in the shaping of our society and its values. We have a duty to cry out when there is injustice, when human dignity is being destroyed.
Saint Oscar Romero, pray for us.
Saint Oscar Romero, lead us and teach us!