Romero was a hero to his people and, after his death, his countrymen and others within civil rights communities around the world considered him a saint for his stand against oppression and cruelty. That he should die, especially in the way that he did, just increased the visibility of the problems.
It seems to me that everything that I am and do should reflect the Christ that surrounds me, fills me, and directs me. I think it’s a wonderful prayer for all of us in times of trouble, because it reminds us that Jesus is all that we are, have, and will be. Patrick’s confidence was amply displayed when he prayed this prayer.
The message that God gives us over and over and over again in the Bible to love your God, love your neighbor as yourself. How much simpler can it be?
Bless that little boy. I don’t know his name or really anything about him, but it seemed that Jesus was shining from him. There was a sense of peace, innocence, joy, and hope about him. I wish I could shield that little child from what he’s going to learn, as he grows older, of people’s inhumanity to others and how hatred fuels the fires that produce violence. But then, maybe he’s the hope of tomorrow, one of the teens who isn’t afraid to speak up and speak out.
Someone must be ready to jump in and take over almost seamlessly to make the production successful. If a member of a team on a project must drop out, someone must move in to take their place. Other people have to double up so that they have time to find replacement without slowing down the completion of the assignment.
It is hard to know how any of us would react to facing evil and maintaining our faith as we face any instrument of death. Jesus showed us, and Luwum followed that example.
I could always take a sandwich, and if I saw someone on the street corner, I could give them a sandwich. It wouldn’t be a fancy sandwich, because I do not have a lot of fancy stuff in the house, but I do have peanut butter and I do have jelly.
I can learn to man the metaphoric life preserver locker and pass out words of life, words that would help others who are struggling and afraid.
Part of their importance is that they are women, not women who were in direct contact with Jesus but who nonetheless heard and believed the message and worked to pass it on.
I go back to John and consider the part about the people who keep God’s word will never see death. Margaret was fervent in prayer, constant in reading the Bible, faithful in attendance at Sunday school and church, and a practitioner of what she heard and understood from the Bible. And yet she died. It’s hard to reconcile Jesus’ words with the reality of life, especially a life as exemplary as hers.