The Gospel That Unsettles

My Franciscan friend, Dan Horan, writes a regular column for a nationally known Catholic publication.  Dan has a large following, so I am delighted with the messages he chooses to put out there.  His most recent piece focused on the late archbishop and now saint, Oscar Romero, from El Salvador.  I know fairly well the story of Romero.  After studying in Rome, Romero became a priest in 1942 during the buildup of WW II in that country.  In 1977 he became archbishop of San Salvador.  

He became quite active in social justice work.  He labored on behalf of the poor and oppressed---often by his own government.  His country became embroiled in a civil war.  Romero spoke out against American aid coming to his country to support the military junta.  He wrote President Carter to that effect.  Sadly, in the spring of 1980 he was assassinated while saying Mass in the Chapel of a hospital.  

I was intrigued what my friend, Dan, was going to do.  When it became clear Dan was holding up Romero as a model pastoral leader for our own times, I was agreeing.  Dan puts it succinctly, “I think it would behoove us to consider models of effective pastoral leadership.”  Dan quips that Romero is one who is “an oasis of authentic pastoral wisdom in the desert of American ecclesial leadership.”  I would extend his claim even further.  I would simply say Romero is an example or model for all Christians, not just ecclesial leadership.

One of the things Dan brings to me, which I did not have, was an awareness of the homilies or sermons from the late archbishop.  We get a feel for Romero’s message from these words taken from a 1978 sermon.  “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?”  As we ponder these words, we get a feeling that he is on to something.

I begin to imagine a provocative church.  I certainly can remember a number of them in the 1960s during the Vietnam War when there were protests again the war, against the draft, etc.  That was a time personally when I was awakened to the injustice for African Americans.  Today too many churches are committed to the status quo.  There is still injustice in our neighborhoods.  We need biblical witness to this.  

I liked the idea of a gospel that unsettles.  That surely describes much of the ministry of Jesus.  Many of us love the stories where Jesus confronts leaders of his day.  With perhaps too much glee, we root for him against the Pharisees.  We easily read the three chapters in Matthew containing the Sermon on the Mount.  I can probably read those chapters in five minutes.  I can even quote many of the verses.  But the real question is whether I incarnate those words in my actions?  How I am doing on the beatitude way of living?  Am I a peacemaker?  What is my take on being poor---or even poor in spirit?  The queries go on.  Too often, I stand indicted.

Romero talks about a word of God that gets under someone’s skin.  What a clever way to put it!  What would that even mean in my life?  What would it mean in the lives of those to whom I might preach or with those whom I teach?  Those are prickly questions that are difficult to answer---much less answer honestly.  

Romero asks about a word of God that touches the real sin of our society.  Where do we hear this kind of word?  Do we even know what the real sin of our society is?  Surely, the George Floyd story of the summer of 2020 reveals aspect of that sin story.  Every major American city has a similar version of the George Floyd story.  While the policeman in the Twin Cities surely is culpable as we see his knee on Floyd’s neck for what seems like an interminable time, we are all blameworthy to the degree we are participants in a system that is still racist.  And racism is just one of the sins of our society.

Romero asks, what gospel is that?  He knows the church is responsible for proclaiming this gospel.  And the folks in the church---or better, the folks who are the church---are responsible for applying the gospel to their sins of their lives and society.  I am on the hook for you and so are you, if you believe in the vision and mission that was Jesus’.  And I will end where I began.

This is not simply the work of the pastoral leaders and the ecclesiastical figures.  It is the work of all of us.  Romero sees this clearly, which is why I like him, as does Dan.  Romero’s words testify to this.  He firmly states, “The church will always exist as long as there is one baptized person.  And that one baptized person who is left in the world is responsible before the world for holding aloft the banner of the Lord's truth and of his divine justice.”

It is time for holding that banner.  It proclaims a gospel that unsettles.