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18/08/2017

A spiritual comment and prayer to begin the day with Julian Filochowski, Chair of the Archbishop Romero Trust.

2 minutes

Last on

Fri 18 Aug 2017 05:43

Script

Good Morning.
Many people of faith hold to a pattern of prayer to start or end the day. This is more than a few pious thoughts, prior to uttering some comforting or even challenging words.
The ancient Carmelite prayer tradition strongly influenced the Salvadoran archbishop, Oscar Romero. That tradition has two prongs - a pondering on the words of sacred texts and the following of Jesus: contemplation and action. Such reflection allows us to be inhabited by the words of scripture. It enables us to dwell within those words, made visible in the actions of Jesus’ ministry, to bring good news to the poor. 
Oscar Romero offered some simple but challenging advice on prayer, rooted in his Salvadoran experience and closeness to his people.
The guarantee of one’s prayer is not in saying a lot of words. The guarantee of one’s petition is very easy to know: How do I treat the poor? Because that is where God is.
Romero is sometimes seen as being all about action, challenging injustice, as the voice of those with no voice. But what gave this shy person the confident strength to take these actions was a deeply rooted life of prayer. 
He believed that if we truly see God as present in a special way in the poor, then how we relate to the poor in our midst, the migrant outsider, the destitute and the disadvantaged will be how we relate to God.
Romero said: the love, or the scorn with which we approach them – that is how we likewise approach God.
Liberating God, may we see you in all people, especially in those living in any form of oppression or deprivation, that we might act with compassion and justice. Amen.

Broadcast

  • Fri 18 Aug 2017 05:43

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