Bl. Stanley Rother
Today we celebrate the feast day of Bl. Stanley Rother. On May 25, 1963, Bl. Rother, who was a farmer's son from Okarche, Oklahoma, was ordained from his home diocese of Oklahoma City-Tulsa.
After he was able to serve in his local diocese for about five years, Bl. Rother was able to join five priests, three religious sisters, and three laypersons to staff a Guatemalan mission in Santiago Atitlán which was serving the Tz'utujil people. The Oklahoma City diocese heard the call of Pope John XXIII to send missionaries to the foreign lands, especially Central America. These twelve individuals had felt the call, and with their bishop’s approval, they had left the comforts of the United States to live and work in Guatemala.
When the year 1975 had come around, Bl. Rother was able to be alone at his parish in Santiago Atitlán, the others had returned home for various reasons. He was able to serve the Tz'utujil people for 13 years and won their hearts and souls. During this time Bl. Rother was able to experiment with various crops as well as fulfilling his heavy pastoral duties which included as many as five Masses in four different locations on a given Sunday and over 1,000 baptisms a year.
By the time Guatemala’s civil war reached the highlands and Lake Atitlán by 1980. Many government troops had gone to the parish farm and Bl. Rother witnessed the assassination of a number of his parishioners, including the parish deacon.
Bl. Rother was warned of imminent danger, Bl. Rother had returned to the United States for three months early in 1981, to visit his family and friends that lived in the United States. Against the advice of his family and the local bishop, Fr. Rother returned to Atitlán to be with his people.
Later on after a few months, during the evening of July 28, three masked men had entered the rectory and they shot Bl. Rother to death.
Pope Francis had recently declared Stanley Rother a martyr on December 2, 2016. He was later beatified in Oklahoma City on September 23, 2017.
Pray to Bl. Stanley Rother
Bl. Rother help us to do the will of Christ even if people may be telling us that it could be dangerous. Bl. Rother help us to guide others to Christ.
Amen
Bl. Rother pray for us
St. Joseph pray for us
May we continue to strengthen our journey to sainthood and keep others in our prayers.
Works cited
Information (read from, not taken):
Franciscan media. “Blessed Stanley Rother. ”Blessed Stanley Rother | Franciscan Media. Accessed July 28, 2021.
Images:
Blessed Stanley Rother. July 28, 2021. Blessed Stanley Rother - Google Search.