Isaiah 8:23-9:3
1st Corinthians 1:10-13, 17
Matthew 4:12-23
____________________________________________________________
I
love a good “call” story. Today we hear one of the greatest “call” stories of all time.
God doesn’t call the qualified. God qualifies the called.
God doesn’t call the qualified. God qualifies the called.
In
today’s Gospel we witness Peter and his brother Andrew called to join Jesus as
missionary disciples. Jesus wants to use our natural gifts and professional
skills to help him spread the Good News. The first disciples showed a readiness
and eagerness to respond to the Jesus’ invitation. How many of us do the same?
Ever heard of Stanley Rother? You may soon know his
name as he marches toward sainthood. His is an amazing modern day “call” story.
Stanley Francis Rother
was a humble farm boy from Okarche, Oklahoma. He was not a very good student, but he knew his way
around the farm. And he
could do just about anything involving manual labor.
But God had other plans
for his life.
Jesus broke into Stan’s life and called him to the priesthood, called him to
become a “fisher of men (and women).”
But
Stan failed miserably at seminary, flunking out after being defeated by Latin. The language of the Church never stuck.
And he was booted because of it.
This was the early 1960s and Vatican
II was about to change everything.
A supportive Archbishop gave Stan a second chance and
off he went to a seminary in Maryland where Latin was not an emphasis.
During his time there, Stan was best known for
organizing students to improve a grotto than for his scholarly work.
But graduate he did, and in 1963, Stan Rother was
ordained, and assigned to a parish in his home state of Oklahoma.
After a few years, his Archbishop asked Fr. Stan if he
would accept assignment at a sister parish adopted by the Archdiocese of
Oklahoma.
Fr. Stan said yes, then packed his Chevy and drove two-thousand
miles to the mountainous region of Lake Atitlan, Guatemala, landing in the
largest community Santiago Atitlan.
Remember,
this is a man who struggled with Latin. Now he had to learn both Spanish, and the Tzutuhill
Mayan language.
When
God hops into our boat we know we’re headed out for deep waters, but it’s usually a place where we find an abundance of fish
to catch.
When
Fr. Rother arrived in 1968, the assignment was peaceful enough.
He would serve with several other priests and a couple
of nuns.
In
his first few years, he learned Spanish, experimented with crops on the parish
farm lands, installed new stained glass windows, refurbished the altar, and
became beloved for being the only Gringo priest to visit the modest homes of parishioners,
sit on their dirt floors and break bread over a meal of wild greens and
tortillas.
Eventually, he would be
handed the parish to run on his own.
Remember
his struggles with Latin? Fr. Stan became not only fluent in Spanish and
Tzutuhill Mayan, he eventually
translated the Gospel into the Mayan language.
He was
beloved. He
found heaven on earth. He
became known NOT as Fr. Stan, but Padre "A'plas," a Tzutuhill
translation of his middle name Francis. This was a sign of love and affection to be honored
with a Mayan name.
But
his dream was about to turn into a nightmare.
In
1980, a clash was brewing between the indigenous peoples emboldened by the
Gospel’s message of Liberation
and a government with its sights set on wiping out the native population.
While
many priests and catechists were preaching Liberation Theology, Fr. Stan wanted
no part of efforts to criticize the government. He was no radical. He refused
to preach rebellion.
He
just wanted to tend his flock in peace and harmony.
But in
the fall of 1980, the military moved into the mountainous Lake Atitlan area to
stamp out a growing native rights movement.
Everybody got labeled a
“Communist troublemaker” if they stood up for, or behind the Mayan natives.
Then
the disappearances began, and word of murder and torture spread.
One of
Fr. Stan’s
brightest catechists was kidnapped before his very eyes one night, screaming to
Fr. Stan, “Ayuda
me,” “Help me.” It was a plea that would haunt Fr. Stan for the rest
of his life.
Fr.
Stan would soon be on a military hit list.
Shortly after Christmas 1980, the heat on Fr. Stan was
too hot. So, he
fled Atitlan and Guatemala for the family farm in Okarche, Oklahoma.
While
in the states a priest friend invited him to speak at his hometown parish.
Fr.
Stan preached saying, “Don’t
believe everything your government tells you.”
He had a unique perspective, seeing this as less a
battle pitting communism vs. capitalism, but instead a battle over human
rights.
But
his remarks upset a couple of patriotic parishioners sitting in the pews who
wrote to the Guatemalan Embassy in Washington D.C. saying, “I feel obliged to warn your nation’s government of the Church involvement within the
leftist organizations attempting to establish A socialist (or Marxist)
government in Guatemala.”
The
letters were a death sentence in the hands of Guatemalan officials.
Just
before Holy Week 1981, he returned to Santiago Atitlan, against the many wishes
of family and friends and fully knowing he might likely be killed.
A few months later, on a hot July evening, a military
death squad broke into the rectory, found Fr. Rother, tortured him, and a
gunman shot him twice in the head.
Just
last weekend I saw the bullet hole in the floor of the former library now
special prayer space. We stayed overnight at the rectory feet away from the
spot and concelebrated Mass at Fr. Stan’s parish.
“In
death, as in life, Stan was of Oklahoma, but his heart resided in the Mayan
church.”
Jesus
asks that we give our all for the Kingdom.
Sometimes our all means our very life.
Fr.
Stanley Francis Rother was beatified by Pope Franics in 2017. His cause is now pending canonization. “(Fr. Stanley Rother) was an ordinary man who found
extraordinary courage in his faith.” He followed Jesus’ call to serve the poorest of the
poor in Central America. Fr. Stan left behind the comforts of parish life in
America. He passed through the suffering of the cross and found paradise with
Christ.
What is Jesus calling you to do for
his Kingdom?
