"God blessed his yes" -- an inside look at Fr. Stan’s life and how "relatable" his story is. Narrated by Martin Sheen, the documentary is in theaters this week.
For María Ruiz Scaperlanda, her appearance in the new documentary hitting theaters this week, “American Martyr: The Stanley Rother Story,” shares one small part of her familiarity with the Oklahoma priest who gave his life for the faith and the people he served in Guatemala. Now the Promoter of the Cause of Blessed Stanley Rother, Scaperlanda – a journalist by profession – wrote a book on Rother, The Shepherd Who Didn't Run: Fr. Stanley Rother, Martyr from Oklahoma. She also has lived for many years near where Rother grew up in Okarche, Oklahoma, and has keen insight into this modern-day Blessed from a small farming town.
A humble beginning to God’s plan
In the new documentary, Scaperlanda comments that when she looks at Rother’s life, she wonders who but God could have put together this story. Many are familiar with the end of his life - that he returned to Guatemala as a missionary though his life was in danger. He considered the Tz'utujil (indigenous Mayan) people there his family. But there was a time, of course, when he was not the courageous martyr he became. He was just a regular young man seeking to say yes to the Lord.
God knew where his path would lead, Scaperlanda comments, and now we can see the origins of God’s plan, even when Fr. Stanley was unaware where it would lead.
“Father’s Stan’s experience of what a missionary is started in his home parish. He had missionary priests [from Europe] in his parish and they came to this piece of land to be shepherds to the community and to the people there.”
His parish was largely made up of people of German descent who had settled in Oklahoma.
Even in what the world might consider failure, God was working. Young Rother joined the seminary, but all didn’t go as planned. “I have learned so much from Stanley Rother,” Scaperlanda shares, “and one of the things is the whole thing about him flunking first year of theology in the seminary. It took so much courage to say, 'I still hear the call of God.' I admire that so much.”
Saying yes, again and again
Rother persevered in his vocation, entering a different seminary and then being ordained to the priesthood. He did not immediately become a missionary - he said yes to his parish assignments in Oklahoma. And eventually, he said yes to going to Guatemala and to learning Tz'utujil, the language of the people he served. “God,” Scaperlanda said, “blessed his yes,” not once, but the many times he followed God’s next step for his life.
His path to holiness became evident to him when he said yes to God one time after another. He went to Atitlán [Guatemala], became fluent in the language of the people. God blessed him with the graces he needed.
The people of Guatemala, by his own account and that of others, became Rother’s family. The documentary recounts his connection to the people he served -- from working alongside them and even helping them form agricultural co-ops -- to eating, laughing, and living life alongside them. He did whatever was needed to help people thrive.
During the Civil War in Guatemala, Rother had a target on his back. He returned to Oklahoma, supported in his decision by his Guatemalan flock. But they were never far from his heart. “My family is down in Guatemala," he said. Taken in isolation, his return to Guatemala seems a radical decision. But in the context of his life, it was one more “yes” that Rother said to what God was asking him. “If it is my destiny that I should lose my life,” he wrote, “so be it.”
A saint for everyday people
While his martyrdom was absolutely heroic, Scaperlanda reflects that he is a saint that many people today, especially in rural America, can learn from and be inspired by. In fact, several diocesan priests have come up to her over the years saying that Rother is “their guy” and that his canonization cause gives them both hope and energy in their vocation.
Not everyone is called to martyrdom, but his “yes” is something everyone can learn from. “My path to holiness is not likely to lie in going to Guatemala. It's right here, as a grandmother of 15. That’s my path to holiness, how I say yes," says Scaperlanda.
We don’t need to copy a saint’s exact life or decisions to learn from them, Scaperlanda comments. But their example and their intercession can give us the courage to pursue holiness, just as they did.
A path towards canonization
Today, Rother’s earthly missionary work is complete, but he’s on a different sort of journey - towards canonization. Rother was beatified in 2017 in Oklahoma City. The new documentary as well as the Blessed Stanley Rother Shrine are bringing increased attention to this small town boy who became the first US-born priest to be declared a martyr by the Church.
