Amazing! When a man takes the plain words of Jesus to heart, when he preaches them and practices them, the poor flock to him, and the powerful fear, despise, and execute him.

"The poor are a sacrament who can transform our lives if we are willing to open ourselves to them, to accompany them." (p. 14)

This book briefly outlines the story of Oscar Romero, his message, and his death. It touches on the violence and injustice taking place in El Salvador. It contrasts the Christian commitmen to life with the Capitalist/materialist commitment to death. The book cites his writings and journals on nearly every page. These passages touched my heart deeply.

But, this book was week on discussion about =HOW= Romero converted to the poor. I would have liked to know more about that--this was the primary reason I purchased the book, and I felt disappointed that it seemed to take a back seat to Romero's teachings and praxis.

"There is nothing pretty about Christian hope. Whatever Chiristian hope is, it begins in terror and utter disorientation in the face of the collapse in all that is familiar ... It is no longer the hope of a rescue, but a fixed surety of that which is not seen, where there seems to be no way out, and where death and its system seem absolutely dominant; and it is this fixed surety of that which is not seen which empowers us to the forging of a counterhistory to that of the domination of death." (p. 84)

As Romero's story is told, he is held up as a christ figure, walking in the steps of his Master, proclaiming the gospel of the poor, to the poor, rebuking the powerful, and finally, executed at the altar during mass.

If only this book sold like "The Jabez Prayer" or some of the other, shallow, Christian best-sellers. That would reflect a transformation of mind and heart, one that is sorely needed in a land that condemned Clinton's sexual escapades, but not his policies of economic and structural injustice.

Five stars for broad coverage of Romero's thought. Four stars for telling the man's story--I wanted to feel how he wrestled through the issue of conversion to the poor, how he wrestled through his inevitable martyrdom.

(If you'd like to comment on this review or discuss the book more, please click on the "about me" link above and drop me an email. Thanks!)

As a biography, this book is a mere introduction - but a good one. Latino country boy works as carpenter, enters seminary, studies in Rome, becomes priest, lives comfortable and respectable life of cleric hobnobbibng with the elite of El Salvador, becomes Archbishop of San Salvador, loses priest-friend to assassination, has conversion experience, condemns elite for oppressing the poor, loses support of elite and fellow Bishops, is assassinated while saying Mass for cancer patients, and is proclaimed a saint by his oppressed poor.

As a story of a conversion experience and life thereafter, it is an outstanding and soul-stirring book. Dramatic conversions are not new. St. Paul had one. Constantine had one. Both changed the world. Romero had one and, once again, the world will never be the same.

Romero's conversion makes this book possible. The authors' skill makes it exciting. Romero, a moderately conservative Catholic Bishop, friend of his country's oppressive economic, social, military, and ruling elite, is installed as Archbishop of San Salvador. Warmly welcomed by this elite, he is opposed by the oppressed poor who view him not as a friend of the oppressed but as a supporter of the oppressor. Within weeks of his installation, his friend, Father Grande (supporter of the poor and oppressed), is assassinated by this elite. Big mistake! Romero begins his conversion experience.

He joins the oppressed poor. They become his spiritual sustenance. In his commitment to them he finds the Sacred. His spirituality increases. His mysticism deepens. He becomes a prophet. He is an outcast from the elite and from his fellow Bishops. He enters his dark night of the soul and emerges from it finding God not in the desert cave, or the isolated monastery, or in the stained glass cathedral, but among his tortured and suffering poor. There he finds the sacred, the spirit of God.

This is the message of Romero. It is the message which this book conveys with such power, clarity, and depth. It is an onion book whose layers can be peeled back to satisfy every category of reader: the intellectual, the casual seeker of information, the mother at home in her kitchen, the subway rider on the way to work, the solitary monk or nun, the activist in the street, the powerful of the world, and the ecclesiastic in the church. It is a book that will leave no reader unchanged.

Obviously, i have a great affection for the martyred archbishop of san salvador.Reading and re-reading theses essays,one can only marvel at the man.For anyone who does not know his story, the bare bones are like this; A studious,fastidious young cleric slowly moves his way up the ladder,never negelecting the poor and outcasts, though never being thier champion. At the age of 60, when all of our mindsets are firmly entrenched, he becomes archbishop of san salvador{1977].After a close friend{and Jesuit priest] and two companions are brutally executed, he undergoes a transformation ,a dark night of the soul if you will,and emerges chnged ,transformed,the only true and popular hero El Salvador has known.Champion of the poor, the dissappeared, he begins to read the names of the dead each sunday from the pulpit of the cathedral. The 8 families[a collective name for the oligarchic powers that rule El Salvador]would have none of this. as atrociites piled up from left and right, Romero went along,going from shanty town to village, baptising, comforting listening praying exhortingin his harsher and harsher ministry. he wrote letters to President carter begging him to stop the military aid that was killing so many of his people.{interesting in regards to the former presidents championing of human rights] abandoned by the bishops conference{save for Rivera y damas,his immediate successor] ostracised by the vatican {Pope John Paul had decided to replace him with a more pliable soul], Romero trudged on, towards his obvious martyrdom[which he dreaded]. Finally, In march 1980, two days after his final homily from the catherdral when he demanded, pleaded ORDERED the repression to stop, he was shot through the heart while saying Mass in a chapel for cance patients. The Civil war which he worked so hard to dispel was to go on with over 80000 deaths,countless wounded,and the ultimate indifference of the Us afetr the immediate threat of communist takeover diminished. These wirings about not by Romero, tell the story well,and movingly. I once saw a quote bu m.k. gandhi"my life is my message'tHE WORDS COULD BE THOSE OF oSCAR aRNULFO ROMERO.

While the language in this book of poetry may be eloquent and well-written, I do not agree with how Golden attempts to tell the story of the martyrs and peasants who were killed in the civil wars of Central America in the 1980s. This is a book which is believed by many to be a work of historical accuracy. This book is not, however, historical by any means. Golden has written a book which is pure propaganda and which attempts to appeal to the emotions of its readers. Golden pretends that she herself is a martyr and writes the poems from many different perspectives. While this is a very creative literary element, I hardly find it to be a wise thing to do in a book with such a political nature. Politics and poetry should not be mixed and I encourage all who read this book to heed my advice - Do not believe everything which you read in print.