"It only apparently dies. If it were not to die, it would remain a solitary grain. The harvest comes because of the grain that dies. We know that every effort to improve society, above all when society is so full of injustice and sin, is an effort that God blesses; that God wants; that God demands of us. I am bound by divine command to give my life for those whom I love, and that is all Salvadoreans, even those who are going to kill me." Oscar Romero in a homily shortly before his death.

Yesterday was the thirtieth anniversary of the assassination of the Archbishop.  Oscar Romero was not a radical by nature.  He had been a 'company man' for the Catholic Church by all accounts.  That changed the day his fellow priest, Rutilio Grande, was assassinated by his government.  Rutilio had been working with and bringing notice to inhumane treatment of farm workers in El Salvador.  Father Grande had also been calling for action regarding government harrassment of clergy working with the poor.  When Grande was assassinated with two others, Romero presided at the mass for the three and afterward listened for hours as the local people told stories of their suffering.  It changed his life.

Romero began speaking out against the government's actions and on March 24, 1980, while presiding at the Eucharist he was gunned down.

Holy Week is about Oscar Romero.  It is about Rutilio Grande.  It is about our world today.  It is not an isolated story about a mythic Jesus.  It is about the reality of darkness in our world and how easy it is for all of us, myself included, to participate in it.  It is not about God needing blood spilled for us, it is about our indifference to blood spilled everyday in our world.  It is about how easy it is to be indifferent to suffering, about how easy it is to be concerned with myself at the expense of others.

I was with a group of clergy recently talking about what we believed hope was.  Thoughts went many places.  I do believe that hope is found by walking through the stories of those who suffer in our world.  Hope is found when we are connected to all persons.  True hope is understood by those willing to walk through darkness.

May this Holy Week lead us to the hope and freedom found by those willing to be grains of wheat.

Blessed Holy Week,

Todd Donatelli