Archbishop Oscar Romero served in El Salvador. He spoke out against injustice, poverty, assassinations, and torture. Ironically, this led to his assassination. He was shot on March 24, 1980 while celebrating mass at a small chapel in a hospital. Romero and many in the church in El Salvador suffered for their solidarity with the poor. They spoke out against economic injustice and violent repression.
One way that Romero expressed his commitment to the poor was by the way he spoke of those who were poor. The typical word used is los pobres, “the poor.” Instead of this term, Romero spoke of the poor using the reference los empobrecidos, “those made poor.” He felt that those who lived with almost nothing did so because they had no opportunity under the system of government and under the economic system to be anything but poor. So they were victims of outside systems over which they had no influence or control. They were not poor because they were lazy and unwilling to work. They were made poor; they did not choose to be poor. They were part of a society that designated their place and gave them no option. These are the very people, those made poor, that Jesus stood in solidarity with in his day. And he was killed for it, too.
Romero and Jesus were both fulfilling the commitment of God that is announced in Psalm 22: “The poor shall eat and be satisfied.” Throughout the Bible, we are shown God’s commitment to those who are made poor. We see God’s solidarity with those who are on the bottom of the pile, those without. Jesus and Romero were committed to living out of God’s intentions for those who are made poor. It is hard to imagine that something so seemingly charitable could lead to death. But to confront poverty honestly is to confront political systems, economic systems, power systems, and greed as well as to challenge racism, classism, sexism, and ageism to start. Poverty exists because some at the top of the economic ladder benefit from it. If there was no economic advantage to keeping people poor, there would be no poverty. But we must remember, there is a cost and not just to those who are made poor. There is a cost to society at large, to safety, and to our moral integrity. Really, there is a cost to the lives of all people. May God’s vision of food for the poor inspire us to stop making people poor.
Prayer
We know that life can be difficult and that many people in this country and in this world are made poor. We do not want to be part of the systems that create poverty. We do not want to be made poor. Help us to have the creativity and courage to confront this affront to the Divine intention for the human family. Help us to celebrate Earth’s abundance and to eliminate poverty from the face of this beautiful globe. Amen.
Lakewood United Church of Christ 