'The Shepherd Who Didn't Run' Blog Tour: Day 3, Lisa Hendey

If you're not familiar with CatholicMom.com, you should drop by and explore a bit.  It is so much more than a "website"!  You'll see what I mean when you go.

Today's Blog Tour stop is in the "Book Notes" department of the CatholicMom.com world. And it is presented by non other than the founder of CatholicMom.com... also speaker, best selling author... and Editor-at-Large at Ave Maria Press...  Lisa Hendey.

I am blessed to call her my good friend!

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María Ruiz Scaperlanda Shines Light 

on Life of Father Stanley Rother

I don’t remember the exact day it happened, but I do remember that my very first acquaintance with the spiritual heroism of Venerable Father Stanley Rother came to me in a conversation with my dear friend and writing mentor María Ruiz Scaperlanda. María, who has been a regular contributor here at CatholicMom.com since 2012 and blogs regularly at Day by Day with María, shared with me that she’d been invited by Archbishop Coakley of Oklahoma City to pen an amazing biography. As I listened to her give a thumbnail sketch of Father Rother’s life and legacy that day, I couldn’t wait to dive in and learn more.

Blessedly, thanks to María and her colleagues at Our Sunday Visitor, we now have a definitive recounting of Father Rother’s life story. Penned in cooperation with both the Archdiocese behind his cause for canonization and Father Rother’s family, this book is part historical account, part spiritual booster shot. In my endorsement for the book, I wrote:

In her tremendous new book The Shepherd Who Didn’t Run, Father Stanley Rother, Martyr from Oklahoma, María de Lourdes Ruiz Scaperlanda brings us into close encounter with a heroic priest who will, God willing, soon be a canonized saint. We learn of Father Stanley’s valiant heroism in the moment of his martyrdom, but also of his life of service to a Church he loved and to her people, who greatly loved him for showing them the path to Christ. Reading this book helps each of us to answer the calling to a life of service in our own unique mission fields. A highly inspirational introduction to an amazing spiritual shepherd.

Today, I’m happy to share my recent interview with María Ruiz Scaperlanda. I urge you to discover this book and Father Stanley’s life for yourself!

María Ruiz Scaperlanda on Father Stanley Rother:

Q: María, thank you for being such a special part of ourCatholicMom.com family and for penning this amazing spiritual memoir, The Shepherd Who Didn’t Run! I recall a personal moment with you at the outset of your work on this book. Please share with our readers how you became involved with this special project.

I have to begin by saying thank you so much for your interest, Lisa! I am so blessed by your support and your enthusiasm about my book, and about me and my writing. You are a great spiritual mentor to so many people, and I am blessed to be one of them.

I was a part of the Historical Commission organized by the Archdiocese of Oklahoma City. This is the group that collected information on Father Stanley and prepared a report to send to the Vatican requesting to open his Cause for Canonization. A year after our work was completed, our group traveled to Guatemala and made a pilgrimage to Santiago Atitlán the parish and village where Father Stanley lived and where he was killed. On that trip I also met our new Archbishop, Paul S. Coakley. And it was Archbishop Coakley who invited me – and commissioned me, to write the book!

Q: For those who are unfamiliar with the story of Father Stanley Rother, would you please provide a brief overview of his life and legacy?

Father Stanley Rother was born in Okarche, Oklahoma, the oldest of five children in a Catholic, German farming family. Four years after becoming a priest, Father Stanley went to Guatemala as a missionary for the Oklahoma Mission to the Tz’utujil Mayan Indians in Santiago Atitlán.

When the violence of the Guatemala civil war made its way into the remote, peaceful village of Santiago Atitlán, disappearances, killings and danger became a daily occurrence. But Father Stanley remained focused on his ministry as pastor, working with his parishioners to build a farmers’ coop, a school, a hospital, and the first Catholic radio station, which was used for catechesis to the even more remote villages.

In 1981, with his name on a death list, he returned to Oklahoma and was warned not to go back to Guatemala. But Father Stanley could not abandon his people. He returned in time to celebrate Holy Week with his parishioners that year—and ultimately was killed for living out his Catholic faith. In one of his final letters, Father Stanley explained, “The shepherd cannot run at the first sign of danger.”

Click here to read the rest of Lisa's Q & A discussion with me!

'The Shepherd Who Didn't Run' Blog Tour: Day 2, Roxane B. Salonen

'The Shepherd Who Didn't Run' Blog Tour continues today over at Peace Garden Passage, a lovely blog by my friend and fellow-author Roxane Salonen!

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ROXI’S REVIEWS: AUTHOR SCAPERLANDA GIVES INSIDE PEEK AT ‘THE SHEPHERD WHO DIDN’T RUN’

JANUARY 29, 2016

I knew about “The Shepherd Who Didn’t Run” well before I was asked to endorse it, and even, I assume, before the title was chosen. It’s author, Maria Ruiz Scaperlanda, is both a dear friend and skilled journalist and writer. She’s won awards for her work, but even more, she’s just a class act of a human being.

So prior to sitting down to read the account of Father Stanley Rother and his incredible, sacrificial life, which ended in his murder in Guatamela on July 28, 1981, I knew it would be a powerful read. The whole project, after all, was covered in prayer, and the subject himself, on his way to official sainthood within the Catholic Church.

I’m privileged today to share this Q & A with Maria, which gave me even more insight into the soul of a man whose story is going to undoubtedly affect many as deeply as it did me. (My Forum column from July 2015 tying Father Rother’s life and death with that of a young man from Fargo.)

So let’s get to it. My questions, and Maria’s answers.

Q. Maria, it was such a pleasure reading your book, “The Shepherd Who Didn’t Run.” I’ve found myself thinking about this servant of God often, and have shared about him with others. I’m so grateful to have his story in my heart and definitely see that this story was meant by God to come more fully into the light and our consciousness.

As I’m thinking about the story, I am wondering more about your role in it as the writer. I understand the story was attempted earlier, but that in time it was necessary to bring in another writer to bring it to fruition. How did you approach this daunting task? How did you first find out about Father Rother? And what helped you feel qualified to write his story? Was it something personal with which you connected?

A: First of all, thank you for this opportunity to share with your readers, Roxane!

The Church of Oklahoma has done a great job of making sure that the story of Father Stanley Rother is passed on from generation to generation. When my family first moved to the state 20 years ago, my kids (who attended Catholic schools here) came home talking about this local priest who died in Guatemala—and I became intrigued! I did a little digging and wrote a few articles about Father Stanley for various Catholic publications. Years later, when the Archdiocese opened the cause and began working on this project, I was invited to be part of the Historical Commission, mostly working with the Spanish documents.

I also had the joy to know Father David Monahan, whom I mention in the book and credit with being the first biographer of Father Stanley. Father Monahan was a gifted journalist (editor of the Archdiocesan newspaper, Sooner Catholic, for many years!) who worked for years collecting information and writing Father Stanley’s life story. Unfortunately, Father Monahan developed dementia and was unable to complete the book—or publish it.

When Archbishop Coakley commissioned me to write this book, I had full access to archdiocesan materials as well as to Father Monahan’s unpublished biography.

Trying to tell someone’s life story is, indeed, a daunting task! One of the things I had to let go of was the unrealistic notion that I would – or could — be telling the WHOLE story! Mine is Father Stanley’s first biography, but I assume not his last. If / when he becomes an official saint, I’m sure there will be many other books published about him. My task was to introduce readers to him by sharing my own experience and understanding of Father Stanley’s story.

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Please drop by Peace Garden Passages to read the rest of our conversation! Just click here.

'The Shepherd Who Didn't Run' Blog Tour: Day 1, Rebecca Hamilton

There are many things about my work that bring me joy. But perhaps nothing compares to witnessing from the front row God’s attention to detail in every aspect of my life.

Take my latest book, for example. In every stage of the project, from research to writing to finding the right publisher, two things have been very clear: #1, this is/was my task to do; and #2, this is God’s project, and all I have to do is do my part.

Have I mentioned that the publisher for the book was also the first publisher to reject it?  Remind me to tell you that story sometime!

And now we are at the phasein the process that I have the least confidence in my ability – publicity, marketing, promoting.

The bottom line is simple. I am infinitely more comfortable working at my desk wearing pajamas than I will ever be standing in front of a group talking, or asking (aka. begging?!) writers or publications to help me spread the word on social media.

Yet once again, God reminds me that this is His project, and I am only called to do my part.  Not only did I not have to beg former Oklahoma legislator Rebecca Hamilton to write about my book in her blog, she offered to do so!

So without further ado… here is Day 1 entry for “The Shepherd Who Didn’t Run” Blog Tour:

The Oklahoma Farm Boy Who Grew Upto Be a Martyr for Christ

by Rebecca Hamilton

Maria Scaperlanda has written a wonderful book that is destined to be a sourcebook for one of the 20th Century’s most profound Christian martyrs.

The Shepherd Who Did Not Run tells the story of Father Stanley Rother, an Oklahoma farm boy who grew up to be a martyr for Christ in the on-going economic wars that are raging around the globe to this day. He died on July 28, 1981, at the hands of what were probably right-wing government assassins in an isolated mission village in Atitlan, Guatemala.

Before his martyrdom, Fr. Rother wrote a letter to his bishop explaining why he wanted to stay with his flock in Guatemala, despite the risks. In that letter, he made the famous remark, “A shepherd cannot run away.”

He knew the danger he was facing. In the same year he was murdered, the radio station he had founded was smashed and its director was tortured and killed. His catechists and parishioners would disappear and later be found, murdered. He knew that he, along with other Catholic priests, nuns and missionaries, was on a government death list.

Mrs. Scaperlanda’s biography was authorized by Archbishop Paul Coakley, the Archbishop of Oklahoma City. Fr. Rother’s family and friends shared their memories and experiences with her, allowing her to draw out the simplicity and the power of this man in the telling of his story.

The Shepherd Who Did Not Run is written in the clean prose of a writer who backs off and lets the story tell itself. Father Rother’s life unfolds in its pages in a way that inspires and uplifts the reader. It’s easy to see God working in the life of this man.

Read the rest of Rebecca Hamilton’s insightful blog post here.

the Shepherd Who Didn't Run Blog Tour!

Extra! Extra! Read all about it...

To spread the word about my new book, "The Shepherd Who Didn't Run: Fr. Stanley Rother, Martyr from Oklahoma," there will be a Blog Tour taking place for the next (almost) two weeks around the Catholic blogosphere!

If you've never heard of a Blog Tour, don't worry. It's also a new experience for me as an author! Think of it as a "progressive party" where we'll visit one new blog for a special treat every day. 

As the world-wide celebration of the Year of Consecrated Life comes to a close, I'm dedicating this Blog Tour to our Oklahoma Martyr, Servant of God Father Stanley Rother, and to the countless dedicated priests and vowed religious who enrich our world and our Church.

The way it will work is simple. Every day I will post a portion of the featured post, and invite you to visit each of the hosts at their "home" blog. 

Also, be sure to leave me a message here -- you could win a signed copy of "The Shepherd Who Didn't Run"! 

Today I'll begin by giving you a list of the Blog Tour hosts and the date for each visit.  

I've also included the wonderful Catholic Book Blogger entries from this past weekend... clearly, I don't want you to miss anything!  

The Shepherd Who Didn't Run Blog Tour Dates and Hosts:

January 21          Catholic Book Blogger 

                         at Patheos Catholic Channel– first, a review of the book                         

January 24          Catholic Book Blogger – and then a Q & A with me!

                           

January 27          Rebecca Hamilton's Blog at National Catholic Register

                        

January 29          Roxane Salonen at Peace Garden Passage

                         

January 30          Lisa Hendey at Catholic Mom

January 31          Meg Hunter-Kilmer at Held by His Pierced Hands

February 1           FranRossi Szpylczyn at There Will be Bread

February 2           Maria Morera Johnson at A Blog by Maria Johnson

                          

February 3           Woodeene Koenig-Bricker at Ordinary Time

February 4           Karen Edmisten at the Blog with the Shockingly Clever Title

February 5           Karen Anne Mahoney at Musings from an Irish Heart

February 6           Marge Fenelon at Marge Fenelon

February 7           Susan Stabile at Creo en Dios!

February 8           Donna-Marie Cooper O’Boyle at Donna-Marie Cooper O'Boyle