Day Twenty One — Friday

Hosea 14

Take words with you and return to the Lord; say to him,
"Take away all guilt; accept that which is good, and we will offer the fruit of our lips.

3 Assyria shall not save us, we will not ride on horses;
we will say no more 'Our God,' to the work of our hands. In you the orphan finds mercy."

4 I will heal their disloyalty, I will love them freely, for my anger has turned from them.

5 I will be like the dew to Israel; he shall blossom like the lily,
he shall strike root like the forests of Lebanon.

6 His shoots shall spread out; his beauty shall be like the olive tree,
and his fragrance like that of Lebanon.

7 They shall again live beneath my shadow, they shall flourish as a garden;
they shall blossom like the vine, their fragrance shall be like the wine of Lebanon.

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When the priest raises the host and says,
"Let us proclaim the mystery of faith,"
you reply what you sense within:
"Christ has died. Christ is risen."
This is the eucharist:
proclamation of the Lord's death,
proclamation of his eternal life,
optimism of men and women who know
that they are following,
even amid the darkness and confusion of our history,
the bright light of Christ,
eternal life.

... When we leave Mass,
we ought to go out
the way Moses descended Mount Sinai:
with his face shining,
with his heart brave and strong
to face the world's difficulties.

— Oscar Romero (1917-1980) Archbishop of El Salvador, who died from an assassin's bullet while celebrating Mass three years after he became Archbishop. (The Violence of Love, 1998)