Some good news

By Steve Gust

There actually is a great event this week. The Stanley Rother Shrine will officially be dedicated and will open Friday.

The shrine is in honor of Rother, a Catholic priest martyred in 1981. It should be noted that nobody will worship Rother, who was declared Blessed Stanley Rother in 2017 by the Vatican. His road to possible sainthood continues. Saints, in the Catholic faith, are those who have led a life of heroic virtue. And they help pray for people here on earth. They are declared saints because of the holy lives they lived. They are very respected and venerated, but worship is reserved exclusively for the Holy Trinity.

The shrine is on SE 89th, not far from Interstate 35. Footage and photographs of the shrine don’t do it justice. It looks a lot larger in person. I hope a lot of people, including nonCatholics, will get around to visiting it sometime and learning about the life of Stanley Rother.

It will seat 2,000, which now makes it the largest Catholic church in the archdiocese. Before that, Edmond’s own Saint John’s had the largest sanctuary seating with about 1,250. I look forward to seeing the new shrine full every week with people wanting to pray and help others.

The shrine will highlight Rother’s life including how he temporarily dropped out of the seminary because of his difficulties with Latin.

But, once a priest, the one-time Okarche farmer went on to learn Spanish and the Tz’utujil language.

As mentioned, Father Rother had his beatification ceremony back in 2017 in Oklahoma City at the Cox Center with thousands there.

A lot of people were turned away. There just wasn’t enough room for everyone.

With the shrine, there most likely will be pilgrims coming here from all around the world.

They will remember a servant of God who gave his very life for the faith and people of Guatemala he loved. It’s a sacrifice like that is worth honoring and remembering.

(Steve Gust may be reached at news@edmondpaper.com)