November 16 - Reflection on the Anniversary of the Martyrs of El Salvador

         God calls us in the reality and the circumstances of our lives, just as he called the prophets of Ancient Israel and the disciples of Jesus out of the reality of their own lives.  Today, we commemorate a very stark reality that happened in our own lifetime: the anniversary of 6 Jesuit priests who were martyred in the country of El Salvador in Central America on this date in 1989 at their residence at the university.  These men gave up their lives for the faith in the midst of a revolution and the great political turmoil in this poor Latin American Country. In our own way, in the reality of our own lives, we are also called to live out our faith courageous and sincerely in order to find Jesus in our own lives and to be witnesses of the Gospel in the world around us. “The struggle against injustice and the pursuit of truth cannot be separated nor can one work for one independent of the other”: These are words spoken by Father Ignatio Ellacuria, the superior of that Jesuit community that was martyred.  His profound words challenge us to live out the justice that God’s truth calls us to, a justice that cannot be separated from our faith in our Lord Jesus Christ.