Catholic Fire

In 1989, I watched a movie at Illinois State University’s Newman Center entitled “Romero”.  That was my first experience viewing the death of a modern martyr on film and I will never forget it.  It was devastating to see a priest gunned down by an assassin while celebrating holy Mass. In the 1970s and 80s, El Salvador was under the heel of a military dictatorship supported by the U.S. government and the country’s poor suffered greatly. Appointed as archbishop of El Salvador in 1977, Oscar Romero became the “voice of the poor” in a time of brutal government repression.  From March 1977, until his death three years later, Romero became vocal and active with regard to issues of social justice and called upon the government, in the name of Christ and His Church, to cease its repressive activities of exploitation, torture, and assassination. In the CD, entitled “Martyrs’ Prayers,”, Michael Glenn Bell and Duane W.H. Arnold have taken the words of Archbishop Romero and...

Today is the fifth day of Christmas and the feast of St. Thomas Becket. St. Thomas Becket was born in London, England in 1118. His father was a Norman knight, Gilbert, who had become a prosperous merchant in London; his mother was also Norman, and he had at least two sisters. Thomas was noted for his piety, his strong devotion to Our Lady, and his generosity to the poor. Richly endowed by nature, he was tall, handsome, strong, and athletic, with dark hair, pale complexion and a prominent nose. His sight and hearing were unusually keen, he had an excellent memory, and he was a gifted speaker and debater. He enjoyed playing field sports as a boy, and as a young man, his energy, his practical ability, and his initiative exceeded his wisdom and his judgment. He was educated at the Merton Priory in Sussex and at the University of Paris. When he returned to England at twenty-one, he obtained an appointment as a clerk to the sheriff’s court, where he showed great ability. He was determined t...