Good Shepherd Delegation to Ellacuria: October 26 to November 1, 2023
History of Our Sister Parish Relationship
There was civil war in El Salvador in the 1980s, including the killing of Archbishop Oscar Romero. Good Shepherd formed a committee to be in solidarity with the people there when six Jesuit priests were killed in 1989. A sister parish relationship formed in 1990. We are called to bonds of solidarity (recognizing others as our brothers and sisters and actively working for their good), which is why we are continually building a community between ourselves and the community in Ellacuria, El Salvador. Good Shepherd has sent 14 delegations over the years. Our next delegation—Dan and Lisa Nimmer, Peg and Ron Leonhardt, and Tom Dueppen, Jr—leaves on October 26. Please join them in spirit by praying for them on their journey.
Thursday, October 26: Depart Milwaukee and arrive in San Salvador. Visit the four churchwomen memorial. Welcome and orientation by SHARE (the sponsor of delegation and of our sister parish relationship.)
Prayer: Dear God, we ask you to provide a safe journey to El Salvador for our delegates. Open their minds and hearts to the people and experiences that lie ahead.
* From Romero: “We are all the new creation. The world will not be renewed without us. We are responsible for the renovation of the world.”
Friday, October 27: Leave for Ellacuria. Visit Rutilio Grande memorial. (Fr. Grande, killed for his work and solidarity with poor farmers, was the inspiration for Archbishop Romero to also side with the poor.) Meet with Ellacuria’s Directiva (Board of Directors) and visit elementary school.
Prayer: Dear God, bless our delegates as they get to know our Ellacuria brothers and sisters. Help them to be open to their gifts and their needs. May they be inspired by the witness of Fr. Rutillo Grande. Amen.
* From Romero: “Christian faith does not separate us from the world, but rather submerges us in it. The Church is not elite, but rather a follower of Jesus who lived, worked, struggled and died in the midst of the city.”
Saturday, October 28: Celebrate the return from Honduran refugee camps and the repopulation of Ellacuria.
Prayer: Dear God, on this second day in Ellacuria, help our delegates to strengthen our bonds of solidarity. Help them to be open to and share their lives, joys and sorrows. Amen.
* From Romero: “The Christian wears the sureness of Christ and is the seed of salvation. If there is hope of a new world, of a new nation, of a more just order, of a reflection of God’s kingdom in our society, surely you Christians are the ones who will bring about this wonder of a new world.”
Sunday, October 29: Mass in Ellacuria. Return to San Salvador.
Prayer: Dear God, help our delegates to carry the love and friendship of our brothers and sisters in Ellacuria as they continue on their journey. Amen.
* From Romero: “I have faith that all will change if we truly believe in the word that saves and place our trust in it. For me, this is the greatest honor in the mission the Lord has entrusted to me, to be maintaining that hope and that faith in God’s people and to tell them.”
Monday, October 30: Visit Divina Providence Chapel (where Archbishop Romero was shot) and visit his crypt. Visit El Rosario Church.
Prayer: Dear God, as our delegates visit these holy places, may they be inspired by the sacrificial witness of Archbishop Romero. Help us to carry on Archbishop Romero’s work of working for justice for the poor and marginalized. Amen.
* From Romero: “If a grain of wheat does not die, it will bear no fruit, but if it dies, how great the fruit!”” (last words of his homily just before he was shot)
Tuesday, October 31: Visit the Museum of Image and Word. Visit the University of Central America’s museum dedicated to the six Jesuit priests, including Fr. Ignacio Ellacuria after whom our sister village is named, their housekeeper and her daughter, and the garden where they were shot.
Prayer: Dear God, our delegates are experiencing another holy place where people have given their lives for the poor. May they be open to the legacies of these faithful martyrs. Amen.
*From Romero: “God’s reign is already present on our earth in mystery. When the Lord comes, it will be brought to perfection. That is the hope that inspires Christians.”
Wednesday, November 1: Depart for the United States
Prayer: Dear God, bless our delegates as they return home to us, filled with the love and friendship of our brothers and sisters in Ellacuria. Help us to be open to the sharing of their experiences so that we may grow in love and solidarity with our brothers and sisters in Ellacuria. Amen.
* From Romero: “Peace is not the product of terror or fear. Peace is not the silence of cemeteries. Peace is not the silent result of violent repression. Peace is the generous, tranquil contribution of all to the good of all.”
Archbishop Romero’s quotes: A Martyr’s Message of Hope: Six Homilies by Archbishop Oscar Romero, 1981, National Catholic Reporter Publishing Company | The Violence of Love, originally published in 1988 by Harper and Row Publishers, 1988, Plough Publishing House
