an Advent like no other

[Note: these holy women are all part of my saint posse, 

the ones I call on and depend on to walk with me. 

They are all found at Clear Creek Abbey in Eastern Oklahoma]

It’s been a long time… I’ve missed chatting with you all. I’ll write more about the past few months soon, but today, let me put in a plug for ADVENT…

There is so much about the season of Advent that I have always loved. Waiting. Anticipation. Grace. Beautiful feast days. Incarnation. We are the only religion who make this bold radical claim. The son of God became flesh, like us, within a human mother. And He entered the world as a humble, fragile baby.

In the midst of this bizarre pandemic year, where nothing is familiar and everything feels unsteady, where the future is a mystery and it is impossible to predict or prepare for what comes next… I invite you to be still. 

Talk walks outside. Sit and feel the sun on your face. Break the usual habits and find space, time, silence to just be. 

 

To this end, I want to suggest two resources that you don’t want to miss!

 

·      I pray with the beautiful Magnificat Magazine daily. And this year, as they have in the past, the generous folks at Magnificat have sent me several FREE Advent apps to give away to my readers. Interested?  Just leave me a message here, or email me directly: mymaria@me.com

·      In the past few years, I have written biographies about three modern saints, and each one enriched and transformed my life in a very personal way. 

 

I humbly suggest, for your Advent reading… or as a gift for a friend, the stories of these amazing holy people:

 

Rosemary Nyirumbe: Sewing Hope in Uganda (Liturgical Press)

Sister Rosemary is a Sister of the Sacred Heart of Jesus ministering, to this day, in a special way to the women and children of her homeland in northern Uganda. Read her story. It will enrich your heart!  In Sister Rosemary's own words, “Love is the key!” [click here]

 

The Shepherd Who Didn’t Run: Blessed Stanley Rother, Martyr from Oklahoma (Our Sunday Visitor)

Father Stanley Rother, a priest from my home Archdiocese of Oklahoma City is the first American martyr. He was killed in 1981 at the Oklahoma mission to Santiago Atitlán, Guatemala. But the gem of Blessed Stan is not how he died, but how he lived. We are all called to be saints, and he can show us the way through the ordinary living of our lives.

 

This book is available in Spanish and in English now! Please, help me spread his amazing story! [click here for Spanish] [click here for English]

 

Edith Stein, the Life and Legacy of St. Teresa Benedicta of the Cross (Sophia Institute Press)

Perhaps you have heard about this brilliant, prolific, gifted woman philosopher. But I fell in love with her heart, through her letters written to friends, colleagues and family, as she shared with them her own conversion story. Always seeking the God, she could not see, she finally felt Him deep inside.   I’ll give you a hint, she read the biography of Teresa of Avila, put it down and said, “This is Truth!” [click here]

Whatever you decide to do for your Advent, just pick one thing. Please join me! And I’d love to hear about it once you decide!

 

Blessings to each of you from the Heartland.  I am thankful for YOU!

 

 

 

Padre Apla's: santo subito! or at least muy pronto

“The shepherd cannot run at the first sign of danger.

Pray for us that we may be a sign of the love of Christ for

our people, that our presence among them will fortify them to

endure these sufferings in preparation for the coming of the Kingdom.”

 

~Father Stanley Rother, 

from his Christmas letter to Oklahoma Catholics, 

months before his martyrdom

 

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Speaking to a plaza full of people in front of the Parroquia de Santiago Apóstol at the 35^th anniversary of Blessed Stanley Rother’s martyrdom, Monseñor Gonzalo de Villa y Vásquez, S.J., then-Bishop of Sololá y Chimaltenango (now Archbishop-elect of Santiago de Guatemala) repeated over and over the word pronto at every reference he made regarding Father Rother's canonization. 

He is honored and remembered, but above all, he is their priest, Padre Apla’s, the shepherd who didn’t run away from danger, who stood faithfully and lovingly with his suffering people. 

 

[Hablando sobre Padre Apla’s]… su martirio se inscribe literalmente en las palabras de Jesús… dar la vida por sus amigos, por su pueblo, por aquellos a quienes se les confió su cuidado… 

 

[Asi como el año pasado honramos a Monseñor Oscar Romero como martir]… hoy, igualmente, aquí en Atitlán en el recuerdo aparecide la vida y la memoria de Stanley Rother, Apla’s… pedimos a Dios que pronto llegue el día en que la iglesia reconozca oficialmente su martirio… 

 

[al regresar a Atitlán] podemos decir que Apla’s humanamente selló su muerte trágica.  Con ojos de fé… sabemos y proclamamos que esa muerte trágica y cruel abrió para el la vida eternal…

 

por eso hoy celebramos con alegría esta misa, y por ello damos gracias a Dios por el recuerdo y el ejemplo de este sacerdote ejemplar…  y pedimos para que pronto no solo lo recordemos, sino que lo tengamos como intercessor.

 

¡Que así sea!

 

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[Speaking about Father Stanley’s death]… his martyrdom is a literal manifestation of Jesus’ words… to give his life for his friends, for his people, those who were entrusted to his care.  

 

[Referring to Oscar Romero’s canonization last year] … today, in the same way, here in Atitlán, we honor and recall the life and memory of Stanley Rother, Apla’s… we petition to God that the day will soon arrive when the universal Church officially recognizes Father Stanley’s martyrdom. 

 

[With his return to Atitlán] we can say that in human terms Father Stanley sealed his tragic death.  With eyes of faith we know and proclaim that his tragic and heartbreaking death opened for him the doors to eternal life.

 

That is why today we celebrate with joy this Mass, and why we give thanks to God for the example and the memory of this exemplary priest… and we ask that soon we can not only remember him, but also have him as intercessor on our behalf.

 

May it be so!

 

[my un-official translation of Archbishop Gonzalo de Villa y Vásquez’ homily]

July 28, 2016

 

Padre Francisco – Padre Apla’s -- Father Stanley Francis Rother: 

the young parish priest who put aside his fears, courageously agreeing to serve the People of God in Oklahoma’s mission in Santiago Atitlán, Guatemala.

 

Father Stanley, the man who struggled to pass Latin and learn Spanish, yet succeded in learning the challenging Mayan language of his Tz’utujil parishioners.

 

Father Stanley, the farmer from Okarche, Oklahoma, who believed plowing the fields standing next to his Tz’utujil farmers was part of his vocation as a minister of God’s love.

 

Father Stanley, the shepherd who chose to face death rather than abandon his flock—the shepherd who didn’t run.

 

And, finally, Father Stanley Rother, already the first martyr from the United States, and the first priest from the U.S. to be declared a Blessed. 

 

Yes, may we not only remember this exemplary priest, but may we also be able to have him as saint and intercessor on our behalf – and may it happen, ¡muy pronto!

 

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_{Want to learn more about Blessed Stanley Rother?} 

_{Check out my biography of our Oklahoma martyr, and SOON, available also in Spanish!} 

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my dear friend... a letter for you, from God

 

"Come to me, all you who labor 

and are burdened, 

and I will give you rest"

my dear friend [insert your name here],

Yes, come for rest. But stay for rest, too. 

Stop all feverish haste and be calm and untroubled. 

Come unto Me, not only for petitions to be granted but for nearness to Me. 

Be sure of My Help, be conscious of My Presence, and wait until My Rest fills your soul. 

Rest knows no fear. Rest knows no want. Rest is strong, sure. The rest of soft glades and peaceful flowing rivers, of strong, immovable hills. 

Rest, and all you need to gain this rest is to come to Me. So come! [all emphasis mine]

~from God Calling, A. J. Russell

daily devotional, entry for today,

September 25

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When I look over my recent posts here, it is obvious that for the past several months, my energy and time has gone elsewhere! I am sorry for the radio silence.

As re-charging as writing is to me -- and it is truly a graced avenue that God uses to fill and renew me! -- I have been in one of those moments in life where only silence and stillness could fill up the in-between times, those critical moments when we ponder what we are living. 

And there has been so much going on! 

Merely since my week-long silent retreat in early July, there has been so much...  Completing my cardiac rehab (woo hoo!); trips to connect with and celebrate milestones with family; a new Grand born!; pilgrimage to Guatemala for Blessed Stanley Rother's feast day; many doctor visits; a special visitor from Cuba; buying a new home (more on that later!); making time with the Grands -- you get the idea. 

I find that the older I get, the deeper I feel things and the easier it is to recognize how important, how life-altering each of our life moments really is--wether huge or quotidian, every-day life. 

Yet there is no substitute for time, for be-ing with God in stillness and silence. That is the one way, the only way, to really ingest this life as a grace and blessing from God. 

NOTE: all photos from our pilgrimage to Guatemala, and to Santiago Atitlán, where Blessed Stanley Rother was martyred. Want to know more about the first U.S. martyr? Check out my book, "The Shepherd Who Didn't Run: Blessed Stanley Rother, Martyr from Oklahoma" (OSV Books).