Oscar Romero Essay, Research Paper

March 10, 2000

Religion III

Oscar Romero was a modern day prophet as well as an advocate of the anawim. He was an amazing man. His life was dedicated to the welfare of the anawim. The anawim of El Salvador were those who were not involved with the military, the guerillas, or the government. No one outside of those three groups possessed any power. Romero was truly a man for others. He thought of the people as companions and as relatives. Romero gives us several examples that show us that he followed the advice of Saint Paul. We can relate the actions of the Ebla kings to those actions of Romero. Romero had one message. It was ?I will rise again in the people.? As Jesus was, Romero was also tempted into ownership. His reaction to ownership is much different than our view of ownership.

Romero is obviously a man for others. He was a man who did not live for himself, but for others and Christ. Every action done by Romero was intended to help others. Not one of his actions were done to help himself. Everything was intended to help others.

Romero?s attitude toward the poor of El Salvador can be related to the feelings of Arrupe?s Jesuit Alumni. Arrupe thought of the Jesuit Alumni as his friends, his family, and his companions. Romero has very strong feelings toward the people around him. He does not look down upon the poor and oppressed. He looks at them eye to eye. He thinks of them as his family and his friends. Everything that he does is intended to help them.

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Romero follows the advice of St. Paul. ?Do not be overcome evil, however, overcome evil with good.? He faces situations everyday where he is overcome by evil. However, he never gives in to it. He does not act in an evil manner upon them, but always overcomes the evil with goodness. An example of his goodness can be seen as Romero lead his followers into the church. He is hurt by the destruction of the Eucharist, but does not act in a harmful way. He leads a peaceful walk back into the church to calmly take over their church. Another example of his goodness is seen as Romero walks out of the cemetery and into the small town. The soldier strips the clothes off of Romero. However, Romero does not act violently against the solder. He then overcomes the evil by saying the mass in the middle of the street.

During the times of Ebla Kings, the kings were in charge of taking care of the widowed, the poor, and the orphaned. If the king did not take care of those tasks, he lost his position. The government of El Salvador is in complete opposition with the Ebla Kings. Instead of protecting the citizens of El Salvador, the government hurt the people. The government injured, tortured, and murdered the citizens of the country. If the government had taken care of the poor before the problems arose, thousand of families and lives would have been saved.

Throughout the story, Romero gave us several messages. The first message was that ?You are Jesus Christ.? The second message that was shown was that he would rise again in the people. Those two messages greatly helped the people.

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Both Jesus and Romero were tempted. Romero was tempted with numerous gifts. As he became Archbishop, he was given many beautiful gifts. He was given some of the nicest luxuries in life. However, we see that he only takes and enjoys the gifts that

are a necessity in life. As the movie shows, the only gift that he is given and enjoys is the new pair of black shoes. The reason he enjoys and accepts them is that they are a necessity in every day living.

The Catholics in the story appear to have a strong sense of God and Jesus. They seem to see God in many aspects of their lives. Many of those people have nothing and live in shacks. But they still have a strong sense toward their savior. Their religion was the only thing that many people of El Salvador have.

In my mind, Romero was an amazing man. He was one of the strongest men that I have ever heard of. He went through so much pain and hardship but still has the courage to stand up to the murderers of his friends. I do not think that I would be able to do what he did. I am not close to being as brave and strong as he. I am more of a selfish person. I would not be able to dedicate all of my time and strength to those around me. I would not be able to follow St. Paul?s advice. I would overcome evil with evil, not goodness. Romero does not seem like a distant and remote historical figure. There are many people today who live their lives similar to that of Romero. We can relate Romero to as strong figure within out Community at St. Peter?s. Father Azzarto can be related to the life of Romero. Only Father Azzarto?s life is on a much minor degree. Azzarto?s life is dedicated to heliping others. Whether is be a student at St. Peter?s or a small Nigerian village in Africa. Either way, he is also a true man for others. Romero probably led the

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way for many activists since 1980. Only a few people in this world have the strength and love that Father Romero possessed.