A solid 4/5 stars for this collection of diary entries and sermon extracts from Archbishop Romero that focus on his exercise of liberation theology in El Salvador between 1977 and 1980. He was eventually assassinated for preaching what was seen as a dangerous interpretation of Christianity. I was able to see how much of this theology is still needed today, especially in regards to Christians, and clergy in particular, not being afraid to speak out. The message of the Gospels should be dangerous. It should challenge the power structures of the day that oppress the weak. There are definitely parts of his theology that don’t jive with mine, specifically his thoughts about sin and atonement, but I am very glad to have read this collection. I hope I can live a life of faith as bravely as Romero did. I certainly feel empowered having spent this time with his writings.

I really encourage anyone who has heard of Oscar Romero to read his work - this is a great little collection. Prior to reading this, I had heard a lot about Romero, some good but most pretty negative. After reading these selections, I have a better grasp not only of what he preached, but of what he himself believed. Really great stuff - I’m inspired to see about finding recordings of some of his teaching to listen to a complete presentation!

From the first time I heard of Oscar Romero, he became a hero of mine. The Catholic Archbishop of El Salvador stood up to the powers of corrupt government and violent rebels and preached the radical Gospel of non-violence and enemy love. He was assassinated on March 24, 1980 while celebrating the Eucharist.

Here are some of his last words:

May this body that was immolated and this flesh that was sacrificed for humankind also nourish us so that we can give our bodies and our blood to suffering and pain, as Christ did, not for our own sake but to bring justice and peace to our people.

He knew exactly what he was doing and what would result from his choices.

This books offers a great introduction to Romero. It begins with a short biography and is followed by 9 chapters. Each chapter begins with an excerpt from his journal with details of some of the happenings and violence that impacted him and the Salvadorian people.

Here are the chapter titles:
1. The Creator
2. The Word Made Flesh
3. Redemption
4. The Call
5. The Way
6. The Church
7. The Kingdom
8. Liberation
9. All Things New

What the editor (and writer of the biography) did, and I didn't realize until I finished the book was that each chapter is a variety of selections from Romero's homilies chosen around the themes. All of the excerpts come from homilies spoken from 1977 until his death in 1980.

Here are a few of my favorite lines:
In addressing "those... responsible for so many injustices and so much violence, those who have caused weeping in so many homes, those who are stained with the blood of so many murders.... To all of them I say, 'Your crimes do not matter. They are ugly and horrible. You have violated the highest dignity of the human person. But God calls you and forgives you.'" This is why redemption is a scandal.

Conversion means asking at every moment: what does God want of my life?

This is what the church wants: to disturb people's consciences and to provoke a crisis in their lives. A church that does not provoke crisis, a gospel that does not disturb, a word of God that does not rankle, a word of God that does not touch the concrete sin of the society in which it is being proclaimed - what kind of gospel is that?

Since carrying out this mission cost Christ humiliation and the cross, the church also must be ready if necessary to suffer martyrdom, the cross, humiliation and persecution, as Christ did.

God wants to save us as a people. He does not want to save each of us in isolation.... What does it mean to be a people? A people is a community of persons in which everyone works together for the common good.

This is what the church is doing on earth: creating community.

The degree to which we approach the poor and how we approach the - whether with love or with scorn - determines how we approach God. What we do to the poor, we do also to God. The way we look at them is the way we look at God. God has so desired to be identified with them that the merits of each one of us and of our society will be measured by the way we treat the needy and the poor.

And finally - one of lines he spoke just before being assassinated: "We must not love our lives so much that we avoid taking the risks in life that history calls for."

Romero was a great man, worth listening to and learning from.

Romero was obviously an incredibly powerful figure and left behind a breathtaking legacy, so there was no doubt that this relatively short collection of sermons and journal entries would be worthwhile. For whatever reason, I didn't necessarily find myself enthralled with them, and it took longer than anticipated to finish reading. My guess is that his words would be more gripping if they were heard spoken aloud and in his original language (aka as they were initially delivered). Along those lines, parts of the reading experience felt a bit choppy, jumping from one idea to the next instead of slowly building and developing like a typical written delivery would. But please don't take that to mean I'm not grateful to have spent some time sitting with Romero's testimony and witness; it was an undeniable gift that I'd encourage others to pursue.

In particular, I was struck by his absolutely unflinching rootedness in what most would consider orthodoxy (he's certainly more orthodox than me! haha), especially given to the critiques against him for politicizing the Gospel. On the contrary, this is one of the most direct and straightforward readings of the Gospel and its implications that I've read, and I think the majority of folks who consider themselves conservative Christians would find themselves agreeing with everything here. It's also moving to see his miraculously persistent desire for repentance and redemption for his enemies, even as the hostility rises and the threats and realities of violence and terror are increasingly present in his own life and those of his people. Above all, I appreciated his clear exhortation to endorse and preach a Gospel that provokes crisis and disturbs the powers that be and upholders of the status quo, and dream of what the Church at large could be if that sat at its center as an extension of the love of Christ that compels it to want for radical redemption for all.

(I received a free advance copy from Net Gallery in exchange for an honest review.)

An absolutely gorgeous collection of Oscar Romeo’s speeches. Lots of insightful and profound theology I absolutely enjoyed reading.