Search
-
August 8, 2019SANTIAGO ATITLAN – Among the 50 pilgrims joining Archbishop Coakley for a pilgrimage to Guatemala for the feast day of Blessed Stanley Rother, were Blessed Stanley’s nephews, Ken and Matt Rother. They are the sons of Blessed Stanley’s brother Jim Rother, who died of Leukemia at age 36, and Mary Lou McInturff, who also made the trip.
Following Mass in Cerro de Oro – a mission church at the time Blessed Stanley served as pastor – Matt Rother knelt before the Blessed Sacrament and stared at the small reliquary that contained a vile of the liquified blood of his uncle. He reached into his pocket and pulled out a gold coin.
The coin had been given to him at age 14 by Blessed Stanley during one of his last trips home to Oklahoma. Matt Rother held on to the coin, which became sentimental after his uncle’s death, and brought it on his first trip to Guatemala.
“The pilgrimage to me was very spiritual and enlightening. I finally was able to see why Stan was so intent on taking care of his people, why his love for them was boundless. I know why the last time I saw him when he visited us in 1981, he had a 1,000-mile stare. His body was with us but his spirit and mind were in Guatemala,” Matt Rother said.
“So much material poverty there, but so much spiritual wealth. The pilgrimage Masses at Santiago Atitlan and Cerro de Oro were some of the most beautiful and soul stirring I have ever witnessed. To be in the halls he walked, behind the altar he celebrated Mass from, the kitchen he ate in and the room where he was martyred, meant more to me than I can say. So much history I have read was now made clear to me. Blessed Stanley, pray for us!”
Matt’s brother Ken Rother was among several members of their family to join the pilgrimage. During the trip, Ken Rother revealed he was the first baby baptized by Blessed Stanley after he was ordained a priest in 1963.
“It was amazing. I felt God’s presence there,” Ken Rother said. “I thought I would be sad about Father Stan, but when I met his people, I felt he was still living in them. It was very powerful. I already told my mom I wanted to go back.”
Diane Clay is editor of the Sooner Catholic.
Photo: Ken and Matt Rother with their mom Mary Lou McInturff in Guatemala. Photo provided.
