On Self-Denial, and Renunciation of all Cupidity [I]

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On Self-Denial, and Renunciation of all Cupidity [I]

CHRIST.
My son, complete self-denial is the only road to perfect liberty.
Those who are obsessed by self-interest and self-love are slaves of
their own desires;(2 Tim.3:2) they are greedy, inquisitive, and
discontented. They spend themselves in pleasures, but never in the
service of Jesus Christ, their whole interest being in passing
affairs. But all that is not of God shall perish utterly. Observe this
simple counsel of perfection: Forsake all and you shall find all.
Renounce desire and you shall find peace. Give this due thought and
when you have put it into practice, you will understand all things.
--Thomas à Kempis --Imitation of Christ Bk 3, Ch 32

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28 July – Blessed Stanley Francis Rother

Martyr, Priest, Missionary. Blessed Stanley was born on 27 March 1935
in Okarche, Oklahoma. He was martyred by gunshot at approximately 2am
on 28 July 1981 in his rectory in Santiago Atitlán, Sololá, Guatemala.

Stanley Francis Rother was one of 4 children of Franz Rother (8 August
1911 – 2 July 2000) and Gertrude Smith (23 May 1913 – 24 October
1987), who had a farm close to that town in Oklahoma; sister Betty
Mae, who became Sister Marita and two brothers, Tom & Jim. Stanley was
strong and adept at farm tasks. Then after completing his high school
studies at the Holy Trinity school he declared his calling to the
priesthood to his parents. His parents were pleased with their son’s
decision though his father asked him: “Why didn’t you take Latin
instead of working so hard as a Future Farmer of America?” To prepare
for this, he was sent to the Saint John Seminary and then to
Assumption Seminary in San Antonio in Texas. His talents gained
working on the farm left him with other duties at the seminary and his
studies suffered and he struggled with Latin. He served as a
sacristan, groundskeeper, bookbinder, plumber and gardener. After
almost six years the seminary staff advised him to withdraw.

After consultation with his local bishop Bishop Victor Reed he then
attended Mount Saint Mary’s Seminary in Emmitsburg in Maryland from
which he graduated in 1963. Bishop Reed ordained him to the priesthood
on 25 May 1963. Rother then served as an associate pastor in various
parishes around Oklahoma and in 1968--at his own request--he was
assigned to the mission of the archdiocese to the Tz’utujil people
located in Santiago Atitlán in the rural highlands of southwest
Guatemala.

So that he could be in closer touch with his congregation, he set out
to work to learn Spanish and the Tz’utujil language which was an
unwritten and indigenous language that the missionary Ramón Carlín
once recorded. He served in Santiago Atitlán from 1968 until his
death. Rother lived with a native family for a while to get a better
grasp of practical conversation and worked with the locals to show
them how to read and write. He supported a radio station located on
the mission property which transmitted daily lessons in both language
and mathematics. In 1973 he noted with pride in a letter: “I am now
preaching in Tz’utuhil.” During that time, in addition to his pastoral
duties he translated the New Testament into Tz’utujil and began the
regular celebration of the Mass in Tz’utujil. In the late 1960s Rother
founded in Panabaj a small hospital, dubbed as the “Hospitalito”,
Father Carlín served as a collaborator in this project.

By 1975, Rother had become the de facto leader of the
Oklahoma-sponsored mission effort in Guatemala as other religious and
lay supporters rotated out of the program. He was a highly
recognisable figure in the community, owing to his light complexion as
well as his habit of smoking tobacco in a pipe. Since there was not a
Tz’utujil name equivalent to “Stanley,” the people of Father Rother’s
mission affectionately called him “Padre Apla’s,” translated as
“Father Francis,” in reference to his middle name.

Rother put his farming skills to good use in Guatemala, on one
occasion operating a bulldozer from 7:00 am to 4:30 pm to clear land
on local farms, stopping just for Mass. His door was open to all
people. There was one old man who appeared each day for lunch and
others came for advice on personal or financial affairs. Some even
turned up to have their teeth extracted. On one occasion he
accompanied a boy to Guatemala City to be treated for lip cancer, from
which the boy was eventually cured.

Within the last year of his life Rother saw the radio station smashed
and its director murdered. His catechists and parishioners would
disappear and later be found dead, with their bodies showing signs of
having been beaten and tortured. In December 1980 he had addressed a
letter to the faithful in Oklahoma and wrote about the violent
situation: “This is one of the reasons I have for staying in the face
of physical harm. The shepherd cannot run at the first sign of
danger.”

At the beginning of 1981 he was warned that his name was on a death
list (he was number eight on the list) and that he should leave
Guatemala at once to remain alive. One parishioner warned him in
January: “Father, you’re in extreme danger. You must get out
immediately.” Rother was reluctant but he nonetheless returned to
Oklahoma in January, though he later asked the archbishop for
permission to return: “My people need me. I can’t stay away from them
any longer.” Another reason for returning was that he wanted to
celebrate Easter with them. His brother Tom said to him, upon hearing
that Stanley wanted to return to Guatemala: “Why do you want to go
back? They’re waiting on you and they’re gonna kill you.” Rother said:
“Well, a shepherd cannot run from his flock.” “Pray for us that we may
be a sign of the love of Christ for His people,” said Fr Stanley,
“that our presence among them will fortify them to endure these
sufferings in preparation for the coming of the Kingdom.” Rother went
back to Santiago Atitlán in April and knew that he was being watched.

On the morning of 28 July just after midnight, gunmen broke into the
rectory of his church and shot him twice in the head after a brief
struggle. The killers forced the teenager Francisco Bocel (who was in
the church at the time) to lead them to the bedroom of the
“red-bearded Oklahoma-born missionary.” The men threatened to kill
Bocel if he did not show them Rother and so Bocel led them downstairs
and knocked on a door near the staircase saying: “Father. They are
looking for you.” Rother opened the door and a struggle ensued as
Bocel ran upstairs hearing Rother yell: “Kill me here!” One shot
pierced his jaw and the fatal shot struck the left temple; there were
bruises on both hands. His father Franz--upon hearing the news of his
son’s death--rang his eldest daughter Marita in Kansas and told her:
“They got him.” She hung up the phone and wept.

Father Rother was one of 10 priests murdered in Guatemala that year.
His remains were flown back to Oklahoma and were buried in his
hometown on 3 August 1981, in Holy Trinity Cemetery. At the request of
his former Tz’utujil parishioners, his heart was removed and buried
under the altar of the church where he had served.

Three men were arrested on charges of murder within weeks of Rother’s
murder, another man and a women were sought for questioning at that
stage as well. The three men arrested admitted to having entered the
church in a robbery attempt and also admitted to having shot Rother
dead when the priest attempted to stop them. Despite the confessions,
many people familiar with the circumstances of the murder considered
the three accused persons as innocent and the prosecutions to be a
cover-up of paramilitary involvement in the murder. Convictions for
all three men were later overturned by a Guatemalan appellate court,
under pressure from U.S. authorities. No other suspects have been
prosecuted for the murder.

On 1 December 2016 his Beatification received approval from Pope
Francis after the Pope confirmed that Rother had been killed “in odium
fidei” (in hatred of the faith). On 13 March, 2017 the date for his
Beatification was announced and was Beatified on 23 September 2017 at
the Cox Convention Centre, with Cardinal Angelo Amato presiding over
the Beatification--as the Prefect of the Congregation of the Causes of
the Saints on the Holy Father’s behalf at a Mass attended by
approximately 20,000 people.

https://anastpaul.com/2018/07/28/


Quote/s of the Day – 28 July 2018 –

The First Memorial of Blessed Stanley Francis Rother

“A shepherd cannot run from his flock.”
--Blessed Stanley Francis Rother (1935-1981) Martyr

“He laid down his life for his people,
long before they came to kill him.”
--Bishop Anthony Taylor, Diocese of Little Rock, Arkansas

Reflection: The martyrs died as the outcasts of the world, but are
crowned by God with immortal honor. The glory of the world is false
and transitory, an empty bubble or shadow, but that of virtue is true,
solid, and permanent, even in the eyes of men.


Saint Quote:
Love does not consist in shedding tears, nor in tasting sweetness and that
tenderness in which one seeks consolation; it consists in serving God in
justice, in strength of soul, and in humility.
--St. Teresa of Avila

Bible Quote
And the centurion, making answer, said: Lord, I am not worthy that
thou shouldst enter under my roof; but only say the word, and my
servant shall be healed. (Matthew 8:8) DRB


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Eternal Father, I offer unto Thee the infinite satisfaction which
Jesus rendered to Thy justice in behalf of sinners upon the tree
of the Cross; and I pray that Thou wouldst make the merits of
His Precious Blood available to all guilty souls to whom sin
has brought death; may they rise again to the life of grace and
glorify Thee for ever.

Eternal Father, I offer Thee the fervent devotion of the Sacred
Heart of Jesus in satisfaction for the lukewarmness and
cowardice of Thy chosen people, imploring Thee by the
burning love which made Him suffer death, that it may please
Thee to rekindle their hearts now so lukewarm in Thy service,
and to set them on fire with Thy love, that they may love Thee
for ever.

Eternal Father, I offer Thee the submission of Jesus to Thy
will, and I ask of Thee, through His merits, the fullness of all
grace and the accomplishment of all Thy holy will. Blessed by
God.
--a triple offering of St. Margaret Mary Alacoque: