By Suresh Abboodass
Glowing tributes were paid to St. Oscar Romero on the 34th anniversary of his brutal assassination, which fell on this year´s Palm Sunday, at St. George´s Metropolitan Cathedral.
Delivering the homily, Archbishop of Southwark John Wilson who was the main celebrant at the Mass, said that it was exactly 44 years ago today, on March 24th 1980, that Archbishop and Saint Oscar Romero was brutally assassinated while saying Mass in a church in El Salvador.
“Why was he so cruelly assassinated? Because he was outspoken towards the cause of the poor, and he was also a strong critic of those in power who were terrorising the common people,” the Archbishop recalled.
“We have a national shrine for Oscar Romero in our Cathedral here at Southwark. Hence his life and witness are very familiar to us.”
“Familiarity breeds contempt. We can at times become indifferent to our Lord, to our faith and to others. Hence here is another Holy Week, for us to consider. Will this Holy Week of 2024 make a real difference to you and me?”, the Archbishop John Wilson put that question to the congregation.
“Will we with openness and desire to change come forward, as we witness again His Passion, His Death and HIs Resurrection, I wonder what prayer will be in our hearts? How will we really follow Him and listen to Him?” he asked.
“Christ is speaking to us, to touch us, to change us for the better, to be like Christ. He is pointing us to the true way of life. So how do we respond to this?”, he asked. “Does our life point to Christ? Are we speaking and listening to the truth of the Gospel? Do we give generously and joyfully?”
Once again recalling St. Oscar Romero´s words on the Palm Sunday in 1978, Archbishop John Wilson said, “I want to do the same as Oscar Romero said to his faithful, “I want to invite you to participate in the services of the Holy Week, because it is like the Baptism of the people, like the Baptism of Christ with us. To be a part of His Passion and His Resurrection.”
“So, I invite you to do the same,” Archbishop John Wilson concluded.
Earlier the congregation carrying palms in their hands and singing ´Hosanna´, entered the Cathedral in a procession led by Archbishop John Wilson, followed by the clergy and the choir, after the blessing of the palms and the Gospel being read outside the Cathedral.
