Leader: One of the great gifts of freedom is choice. One of the great burdens of freedom is choice. We gather tonight to reflect on our choices, and to pray for the courage, like Blessed Oscar Romero, to choose life over death, nonviolence over violence, love over fear. We are called to examine our choices, to reflect on their effect on others, and to take responsibility for them

Reader 1: Over fifty years ago St. John XXIII, in his letter Pacem in Terris said: “The unity of the human family has always existed, because its members were human beings all equal by virtue of their natural dignity. Hence there will always exist the objective need to promote, in sufficient measure, the universal common good, that is, the common good of the entire human family.” (#132)

Reader 2: Archbishop Oscar Romero proclaimed in a sermon in 1978:
“Moses killed an Egyptian; Elijah put to the sword
the prophets who did not adore the true God; Peter drew his sword against Malchus
to defend Christ; James and John begged Christ to rain fire on a town that would not give him lodging.

Jesus teaches us a different way. We are peacemakers not because we cannot fight, but because we prefer the force of peace. And so I invite you, let us place all that energy that God has given His people,
like a torrent, not at the service of bloodshed, of violence . . .[but] at the service of building true justice, of building the order of things
that truly ought to be defended.”

Jesus himself lived in violent times. Yet he taught that the true battlefield, where violence and peace meet, is the human heart: for ‘it is from within, from the human heart, that evil intentions come.’ But Christ’s message in this regard offers a radically positive approach. He unfailingly preached God’s unconditional love, which welcomes and forgives. He taught his disciples to love their enemies and to turn the other cheek. When he stopped her accusers from stoning the woman caught in adultery, and when, on the night before he died, he told Peter to put away his sword, Jesus marked out the path of nonviolence. He walked that path to the very end, to the cross, whereby he became our peace and put an end to hostility.”

Leader: For the ways in which our choices have not promoted the common good of the en re human family, we pray for mercy and forgiveness . . .

(Quiet reflection)

Reader 1: The United States Catholic Bishops, in their letter, The Challenge of Peace: God’s Promise and Our Response, said: “No society can live in peace with itself, or with the world, without a full awareness of the worth and dignity of every human person, and of the sacredness of all human life” (#284).

Reader 2: In December of 1977, Oscar Romero said:
“For the church, the many abuses of human life, liberty, and dignity are a hearfelt suffering. Entrusted with the earth’s glory, we believe that each person is the Creator’s image and that everyone who tramples it offends God.
As holy defender of God’s rights and of his images, we must cry out. It takes as spittle in its face, and lashes on its back, as the cross in the passion, all that human beings suffer, even though they may be unbelievers. They suffer as God’s images. There is no dichotomy between man and God’s image.
Whoever tortures a human being, whoever abuses a human being, whoever outrages a human being abuses God’s image, and as people of God we take as its own that cross, that martyrdom.”

Leader: For the ways in which our choices have not been made with full awareness of the worth and dignity of every human person and the sacredness of all human life, we pray for mercy and forgiveness . . .

Reader 1: St. John XXIII wrote in Pacem in Terris, “...If civil authorities pass laws or command anything opposed to the moral order and consequently contrary to the will of God, neither the laws made nor the authorizations granted can be binding on the consciences of the citizens, since God has more right to be obeyed than humans. Otherwise, authority breaks down completely and results in shameful abuse” (#51).

Reader 2: Throughout his time as archbishop, Oscar Romero said over and over that, as Church, we are called to cry out for justice when our leaders and authorities go astray. He proclaimed in 1978:
“A church that doesn’t provoke any crises, a gospel that doesn’t unsettle,
a word of God that doesn’t get under anyone’s skin,
a word of God that doesn’t touch the real sin
of the society in which it is being proclaimed - what gospel is that?” (April 16 1978)

“Dear Brothers and Sisters,
the church knows it is God’s lamp, light taken away from the glowing face of Christ to enlighten human lives, the lives of peoples, the complications and problems that humans create in history.
The church feels obliged to speak, to enlighten like the lamp in the night. The church feels compelled to light up the darkness.” (August 6, 1978)

Leader: For the ways in which our choices do not reflect that God has more right to be obeyed than humans, and for the times we have not fulfilled our role to cry out against unjust decisions by leaders and authorities, we pray for mercy and forgiveness. . .

(Quiet reflection)

Psalm Response: Psalm 148
Reader 1: Praise God, O my soul; I will praise you all my life; I will sing praise to my God while I live.

All: Help us choose life!

Reader 2: Put not your trust in princes, in humans, in whom there is no salva on. When their spirits depart they return to the earth; on that day their plans perish.

All: Help us choose life!

Reader 1: Happy are those whose help is the God of Jacob, whose hope is in God, who made heaven and earth, the sea and all that is in them; Who keeps faith forever, secures jus ce for the oppressed, gives food to the hungry.

All: Help us choose life!

Reader 2: God sets captives free; God gives sight to the blind. God raises up those that were bowed down; God
loves the just.

All: Help us choose life!

Reader 1: God protects strangers; the fatherless and the widow God sustains, but the way of the wicked God thwarts.

All: Help us choose life!

Reader 2: God shall reign forever through all generations. Alleluia!

All: Help us choose life!

Reader 1: Oscar Romero proclaimed in his homily, minutes before being killed for love of life, peace, and justice: “God’s reign is already present on our earth in mystery.
When the Lord comes, it will be brought to perfection.
That is the hope that inspires Chris ans.
We know that every effort to better society, especially when injustice and sin are so ingrained,
is an effort that God blesses, that God wants, that God demands of us.” (March 24, 1980)

Link to Video: https://youtu.be/ejYL-7PxLGY

Closing Prayer:
All: O God, you are the source of life and peace. Praised be your name forever. We know it is you who turn our
minds to thoughts of peace and justice.

We pray that you would help us to continue the mission of Blessed Oscar Romero, whose work was so rudely interrupted by the fear, hate, and despair that rang out in a single hollow gunshot on March 24, 1980.

Awaken us to proclaim the power of peace and justice. Help us to stand up for the dignity of all of humanity. Be with us as we follow the way of life. Amen.