Customer Reviews

Oscar Romero: Reflections on His Life and Writings (Modern Spiritual Masters Series)

5 star:		(3)
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3 star:		(1)
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As a biography, this book is a mere introduction - but a good one. Latino country boy works as carpenter, enters seminary, studies in Rome, becomes priest, lives comfortable and respectable life of cleric hobnobbibng with the elite of El Salvador, becomes Archbishop of San Salvador, loses priest-friend to assassination, has conversion experience, condemns elite for oppressing the poor, loses support of elite and fellow Bishops, is assassinated while saying Mass for cancer patients, and is proclaimed a saint by his oppressed poor.

As a story of a conversion experience and life thereafter, it is an outstanding and soul-stirring book. Dramatic conversions are not new. St. Paul had one. Constantine had one. Both changed the world. Romero had one and, once again, the world will never be the same.

Romero's conversion makes this book possible. The authors' skill makes it exciting. Romero, a moderately conservative Catholic Bishop, friend of his country's oppressive economic, social, military, and ruling elite, is installed as Archbishop of San Salvador. Warmly welcomed by this elite, he is opposed by the oppressed poor who view him not as a friend of the oppressed but as a supporter of the oppressor. Within weeks of his installation, his friend, Father Grande (supporter of the poor and oppressed), is assassinated by this elite. Big mistake! Romero begins his conversion experience.

He joins the oppressed poor. They become his spiritual sustenance. In his commitment to them he finds the Sacred. His spirituality increases. His mysticism deepens. He becomes a prophet. He is an outcast from the elite and from his fellow Bishops. He enters his dark night of the soul and emerges from it finding God not in the desert cave, or the isolated monastery, or in the stained glass cathedral, but among his tortured and suffering poor. There he finds the sacred, the spirit of God.

This is the message of Romero. It is the message which this book conveys with such power, clarity, and depth. It is an onion book whose layers can be peeled back to satisfy every category of reader: the intellectual, the casual seeker of information, the mother at home in her kitchen, the subway rider on the way to work, the solitary monk or nun, the activist in the street, the powerful of the world, and the ecclesiastic in the church. It is a book that will leave no reader unchanged.

Oscar Romero, archbishop of San Salvador, was martyred twenty years ago, killed by the security forces of the oppressive right-wing regime in El Salvador during its war against leftist guerrillas. This book briefly tells his life story, although it by no means qualifies as a biography. Its primary goal is rather to reflect on Romero's theology - a theology shaped by his experience of violence and poverty in El Salvador. Romero preached and indeed enfleshed what is called the "theology of liberation," a movement in Catholic theology which was born in Central and South America in countries like El Salvador, where the landed rich collude with oppressive regimes, and where "liberation theologians" have begun to argue that the Gospel demands that the Church take the side of the poor in its struggles for justice, even if this means the Church risks being labled "subversive" or "communist." The book quotes Romero extensively as well as the works of liberation theologians like Jon Sobrino who have reflected on his life. The book is eloquent in its presentation of Romero's theology, moving in its portrayal of his "conversion" to the poor and martyrdom on their behalf, but somewhat repetative and thin on biographical details. A reader wishing for a biography will have to turn elsewhere, although there is no "Further Reading" section to give help here, or to provide guidance for readers wanting to read liberation theology. With these qualifications, I recommend the book.

Amazing! When a man takes the plain words of Jesus to heart, when he preaches them and practices them, the poor flock to him, and the powerful fear, despise, and execute him.

"The poor are a sacrament who can transform our lives if we are willing to open ourselves to them, to accompany them." (p. 14)

This book briefly outlines the story of Oscar Romero, his message, and his death. It touches on the violence and injustice taking place in El Salvador. It contrasts the Christian commitmen to life with the Capitalist/materialist commitment to death. The book cites his writings and journals on nearly every page. These passages touched my heart deeply.

But, this book was week on discussion about =HOW= Romero converted to the poor. I would have liked to know more about that--this was the primary reason I purchased the book, and I felt disappointed that it seemed to take a back seat to Romero's teachings and praxis.

"There is nothing pretty about Christian hope. Whatever Chiristian hope is, it begins in terror and utter disorientation in the face of the collapse in all that is familiar ... It is no longer the hope of a rescue, but a fixed surety of that which is not seen, where there seems to be no way out, and where death and its system seem absolutely dominant; and it is this fixed surety of that which is not seen which empowers us to the forging of a counterhistory to that of the domination of death." (p. 84)

As Romero's story is told, he is held up as a christ figure, walking in the steps of his Master, proclaiming the gospel of the poor, to the poor, rebuking the powerful, and finally, executed at the altar during mass.

If only this book sold like "The Jabez Prayer" or some of the other, shallow, Christian best-sellers. That would reflect a transformation of mind and heart, one that is sorely needed in a land that condemned Clinton's sexual escapades, but not his policies of economic and structural injustice.

Five stars for broad coverage of Romero's thought. Four stars for telling the man's story--I wanted to feel how he wrestled through the issue of conversion to the poor, how he wrestled through his inevitable martyrdom.

(If you'd like to comment on this review or discuss the book more, please click on the "about me" link above and drop me an email. Thanks!)

OSCAR ROMERO: Reflections on His Life and Writings is a slim volume written by three American scholars expert in and inspired by the new care for the poor in the Latin American church for which the martyred bishop worked. It is published by Maryknoll's Orbis Books, which is known for its many titles in support of liberation theology. This loosely-knit series of reflections by Marie Dennis, Renny Golden, and Scott Wright is no mere biography, but rather approaches a traditional hagiography.

The focus of the book is on Romero's work and illustrated by numerous quotations from his writings and homilies. I was pleasantly surprised, however, to see that the authors kept his life in context by briefly mentioning some of his contemporaries among the disadvantaged of El Salvador. The mention of murdered NGO workers or continually victimized campesinos shows the repressed people for which he gave his life.

I found two facets of the book unsatisfying, however. The first is that there is a great deal of needless repetition; I feel that the book could have benefitted from tighter editing. I was also disappointed to see that only the English translation of passages from Romero was provided. Romero was an excellent rhetorician--that is why his homilies continue to inspire--but one can enjoy them best in the original language, so the Spanish should have been represented here.

For those who want to know what all the fuss is about in the remembrance of Romero's martyrdom and why his memory continues to give hope to the poor of El Salvador and Christians around the world, this is a book worth reading for a simple explanation of the archbishop's piety. A more serious theological study can be found in Jon Sobrino's ARCHBISHOP ROMERO: Memories and Reflections.

Obviously, i have a great affection for the martyred archbishop of san salvador.Reading and re-reading theses essays,one can only marvel at the man.For anyone who does not know his story, the bare bones are like this; A studious,fastidious young cleric slowly moves his way up the ladder,never negelecting the poor and outcasts, though never being thier champion. At the age of 60, when all of our mindsets are firmly entrenched, he becomes archbishop of san salvador{1977].After a close friend{and Jesuit priest] and two companions are brutally executed, he undergoes a transformation ,a dark night of the soul if you will,and emerges chnged ,transformed,the only true and popular hero El Salvador has known.Champion of the poor, the dissappeared, he begins to read the names of the dead each sunday from the pulpit of the cathedral. The 8 families[a collective name for the oligarchic powers that rule El Salvador]would have none of this. as atrociites piled up from left and right, Romero went along,going from shanty town to village, baptising, comforting listening praying exhortingin his harsher and harsher ministry. he wrote letters to President carter begging him to stop the military aid that was killing so many of his people.{interesting in regards to the former presidents championing of human rights] abandoned by the bishops conference{save for Rivera y damas,his immediate successor] ostracised by the vatican {Pope John Paul had decided to replace him with a more pliable soul], Romero trudged on, towards his obvious martyrdom[which he dreaded]. Finally, In march 1980, two days after his final homily from the catherdral when he demanded, pleaded ORDERED the repression to stop, he was shot through the heart while saying Mass in a chapel for cance patients. The Civil war which he worked so hard to dispel was to go on with over 80000 deaths,countless wounded,and the ultimate indifference of the Us afetr the immediate threat of communist takeover diminished. These wirings about not by Romero, tell the story well,and movingly. I once saw a quote bu m.k. gandhi"my life is my message'tHE WORDS COULD BE THOSE OF oSCAR aRNULFO ROMERO.

While living in Central America during the 1990s I came into contact with the writings of Oscar Romero,many biographies of his life and work, and writing about his writings. As I read this book of Reflections on His Life and Writings I was once again inspired by Romeo's life, thought and writings. I would like to quote a line from the Introduction that I believe is important to understanding Romer's life- "he discovered a God who was emeshed in the ordinary, messy, conflictive struggle of the Salvadoran people." Oscar Romero represents another side of Catholicism that is often forgotten and ignored in favor of more anteseptic forms of thought and practice. I highly recommend this book for all those seeking a spirituality for living in the world as Christian people.

Dennis, Golden, and Wright offer an informative and interesting biography with "Oscar Romero: Reflections on His Life and Writings" (2000). Originally penned to persuade Roman Catholic officials toward canonization of Archbishop Romero, this small book (only 127 paperback pages) provides a necessary witness for a great man's extraordinary life.

Introducing Romero with his birth (in an El Salvadoran barrio in 1917) the authors tells of his training and ordination (in 1942 Rome), and his quick rise through church ranks to the arch-episcopacy during the turbulent era of 1970s Central America. The authors witness his saintly qualities and his pursuit of holy living. They regard him as a 20th century prophet whose life was a symbol for the struggle of the Meso-American poor. Romero's life is characterized as "the mystery of faith and God's grace as well as...the mystery of betrayal and evil". Archbishop Romero "tried to make the world see the value of every human life".

The authors explain Archbishop Romero's theology through each of the book's 5 chapters. The centrality of the poor, the historical demand of the Gospel, and the testimony of the martyrs provide the principle basis for his Christo-centric accompaniment theology. Romero's call to the universal church is to offer itself to the poor. His invitation resulted in the inevitable clash between the "haves" and the "have-nots". In the end everyone lost something (the Archbishop lost his life).

After various unfruitful public confrontations with the corrupt (U.S. backed) Salvadoran government, Archbishop Romero decides, in 1977, to challenge its avarice, greed, and human rights violations. He formally requests the secession of U.S. aid, he preaches against repression, and he publicly invites the western media to see his country's plight. With his own bishops opposing him, Romero is reminded that a prophet always stands alone. Gunned down during worship, by government soldiers in 1980, Romero's life became a cry for Central American social realignment. (This calls to reform remains yet to be heard by many south of the Rio Grande.)

Unfortunately, the authors only glance over Romero's writings. They offer signifcant research (with 7 pages of endnotes) into the Archbishop's sermons, books, and college lectures. Several notable theologians and church colleagues are also quoted about Romero's life and influence. (By book's end, I wondered as a non Roman Catholic what the hold-up is for Romero's canonization.)

"Oscar Romero" is a poignant and gripping read. It tells a story a few others do. This book is recommendable to all students of Central America, church history buffs, and as a class text. Its story should never be forgotten.