The weekend of the 15th and 16th of November I had the incredible honor of traveling to El Salvador for the celebrations of the 25th anniversary of the martyrdom of the six Jesuit priests from the Universidad Centroamericana (UCA), their cook and her 16 year old daughter: Elba and Celina Ramos, Ignacio Ellacuria, Ignacio Martin-Baro, Segundo Montes, Juan Ramon Moreno, Amando Lopez and Joaquin Lopez y Lopez.  It was an incredible weekend! We celebrated the lives of these eight people together with the people of El Salvador, the UCA community and some family and friends of the martyrs. These six Jesuits together with other Church martyrs of El Salvador accepted with open arms and open hearts God’s invitation to walk alongside God’s people in El Salvador in the midst of a horrible war fruit of the oppression and injustice perpetrated by a powerful few. These six Jesuits, who were university professors in different fields, used their intellectual talents to live prophetic lives. They denounced the injustices perpetrated onto to the people and they also denounced the war as a means to achieve justice. They accompanied the people in their local rural churches during the weekends and came back to the university during the week where their experiences informed their intellectual and educational work. They were real contemporary prophets and teachers who educated the youth to be agents of change.

The first reading talks about a King that harvests the whole earth with a very sharp sickle, the psalm tells us that the Lord is King, the lord has created the earth and rules it with justice, so all the earth must rejoice! And in the passage from the Gospel of Luke Jesus warns his disciples that before the end there’s going to be war, chaos, insurrections, famine, plagues and earthquakes. But he tells them not to be afraid, that is not going to be the last word. I would like to suggest that this is precisely what the martyrs lived by. They lovingly accepted God’s gift of living among and fighting with the wonderful people of El Salvador knowing and trusting in hope that that chaos, injustice, war and confusion was not the end. They trusted in Jesus’ words: “do not be terrified”. They probably were, but fear did not paralyze them. They lived and preached an active faith and hope that work for justice right here and now, because the kingdom of God starts right here and now.

Let’s pray today that following the example of Jesus, the UCA martyrs and so many people of faith throughout history, we have the courage to live out a faith that seeks justice in love and hope.