Tuesday, February 10, 2009

I am going to start putting up quotes by Oscar Romero, who was the former archbishop of El Salvador until he was assassinated March 24, 1980 while performing mass in San Salvador. He was a wonderful advocate for human rights, especially for the poor. He wrote a book that has been translated and is called The Violence of Love. The following are a few sections that I especially was drawn to.

How I would like to engrave this great idea
on each one's heart:
Christianity is not a collection of truths to be believed,
of laws to be obeyed,
of prohibitions.
That makes it very distasteful.

Christianity is a person,
one who loved us so much,
one who calls for our love.
Christianity is Christ.
November 6, 1977

We have never preached violence,
except the violence of love,
which left Christ nailed to a cross,
the violence that we must each do to ourselves
to overcome our selfishness
and such cruel inequalities among us.
The violence we preach is not of the violence of the sword,
the violence of hatred.
It is the violence of love,
of brotherhood,
the violence that wills to beat weapons
into sickles for work.
November 27, 1977
 
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