Stanley Rother was the Beautiful American

The following is the text of the homily preached by Archbishop Charles Salatka at the Mass of Christian Burial for Father Stanley Rother at Our Lady's Cathedral on Aug. 3, 1981.

Dearly Beloved in Christ.

Thanks be to God for Father Stanley Rother!

God our Father, the giver of every good gift, has given all of us here present, and the whole Church in Oklahoma, as well as the people of Santiago Atitlan, a great treasure in the person and the life of Stanley Rother.

We are grateful to God for this precious gift.

We are grateful for the opportunity of having known Stanley Rother, of having been associated with him in the work of the Gospel. And now we thank God that Stanley Rother will be, from this time onward, an inspiration for us to be more courageous and less complacent, more willing to risk for the sake of the Gospel and less fearful, more genuinely loving and less preoccupied with our own selfish interest.

For all of this we say-Thanks be to God.

Speaking on behalf of the Church in Oklahoma, I say a sincere, heartfelt thanks to the Rother family for Stanley Rother. First, I thank his mother and father, Franz and Gertrude, for the generous gift of their son to God, to the Church, and to all of God's people. I know that it was largely through your encouragement, your love, your prayers and your example that Stanley became a great man and an uncommonly good priest.

Secondly, I thank Sister Marita and Tom, and all the other members of the wonderful Rother family for the contributions you have made in the growth and development of Father Rother.

Jesus spoke to us in the Gospel this morning: "I am the good shepherd; the good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep."

When Stanley Rother was ordained to the ministerial priesthood of Jesus Christ by Bishop Victor Reed in this very cathedral on May 25, 1963, he acquired, by God's grace, a special involvement in the shepherding role of Jesus Christ. Henceforth, Stanley Rother was to have the high privilege and the awesome responsibility of being a shepherd in the image of Christ.

We all know, and we celebrate today, what a trustworthy shepherd Father Rother became. After serving well as an associate pastor in Oklahoma for five years, he then was assigned to the biggest challenge of his life—the mission church of Santiago Atitlan.

Few of us here can truly realize the price he had to pay to become the good shepherd there. He left family and home and country and culture and convenience and even his own language to embrace the poor people of his mission. He went to the poorest of the poor to serve them. And he succeeded.

Then, in this past year, the dreadful darkness of evil, calculated violence descended upon Stanley Rother and the flock for whom he was responseble. Many of his parishioners were abducted, tortured and murdered.

In his Christmas letter of last December, he wrote, "A nice compliment was given to me recently when a supposed leader in the church and town was complaining that 'Father is

defending the people.' He wants me deported for my sin.

"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."

 This past spring when Father Stan was home, I tried, in view of the danger involved, to persuade him not to return. As a good shepherd, he replied simply, "I really think the people need me there."

He went back to his flock despite the thunder and lightning in the ominous clouds that had settled upon the mission in the mountains. As a good shepherd he laid down his life for his sheep.

I pray that Stanley Rother's unconditional gift of himself in service to his people will move me and you to fulfill better our commitments and our responsibilities to one another.

Perhaps one of the gifts, which will spring from Stanley Rother's life and death, will be given to your family, to your neighborhood, to your parish, to our Church in Oklahoma, to our state.

That gift may be the ability to be responsibly present to one another, especially in times of need, to have the attitude of serving rather than being served, of loving rather than anx-

iously seeking to be loved.

A few years before Father Rother was ordained, there was a best-selling book written, titled "The Ugly American." It was a story of American exploitation of poorer nations, of American manipulation of poorer countries, of American greed and power in foreign affairs.

Perhaps the theme of that book has been verified to some extent over the past two decades. Assuming that there may be a reality called The Ugly American, I am here today to say loudly and clearly that it is not the whole reality.

There is also The Beautiful American—that man or that woman—who goes forth from this nation to proclaim the Good News of Jesus Christ.

Stanley Rother was The Beautiful American. He was The Beautiful American who shared his food every day with an aged, helpless Indian named Nicholas. He was The

 Beautiful American who saved a three-pound infant whose mother had bore twins and was able to nurse only one. He was The Beautiful American whose life was a constant weaving of thousands of threads of kindness and faithfulness.

America should burst with pride at the remembrance of The Beautiful American, Stanley Rother. I trust that the American government will not rest until the truth of his death is brought to light, including the realities in Guatemala which conspired to harm him.

Now, Father Stan has gone before us to see God. He has grown to that full maturity in Christ that the Church prayed for at his baptism.

The words of today's first reading, chosen by hisfamily, say it best:

  "Having become perfect in a short while,

  he reached the fullness of a long career;

  for his soul was pleasing to the Lord,

  therefore he sped him out of the midst of wickedness."

We thank God for Father Stanley Rother. We pray that his death may inspire others to become good shepherds to the poor and oppressed. We pray that the Lord may give us courage to be present lovingly and selflessly to the members of our families and to all entrusted to our care.

Through our faith we know that Father Stanley Rother continues to intercede with the Lord for his beloved people of Santiago Atitlan and for us.

God love you.