Call to rural life blessed by God: 7th annual Rural Life Celebration held near Oakes

Sunday, June 23 was a perfect day for farming or ranching. The temperature was warm and the sun shone brightly for the crops emerging from the fields. It was also the perfect day to celebrate farming, ranching, and the rural way of life at the Fargo Diocese’s seventh annual Rural Life Celebration.

St. Charles Borromeo parish of Oakes, led by Pastor Tim Schroeder, hosted the event at the Larry and Jane Andersen farm. The Rural Life Celebration featured Mass celebrated by Bishop Folda, the blessings of soil, animals, and farming machinery, and dinner.

“The Diocese of Fargo has always had a strong rural character, and I’m sure it always will,” said Bishop John Folda during his homily at the Rural Life Mass. “Our diocese is made up of farms like this one and families like yours. Most of our parishes are found in small towns or in the countryside, and the faith has been planted and cultivated in many of them for well over a hundred years. The faith of the apostles, the faith of our ancestors, now lives on in us, and moves us to pass along this gift to others.”

According to the Diocese of Fargo Rural Life webpage, www.fargodiocese.org/rural-life, the diocese has celebrated the gift of creation and the care and working of the soil for many years. The diocese reinstated the formal celebration of this gift with all in the diocese, especially those who live it on a daily basis. Whether on the farm or in the city, tilling a field, weeding a garden or tending to plant life in an apartment window, the faithful celebrate together the gift of being stewards of the earth and bearers of fruit.

“I would suggest that we see miracles… every year in our rural countryside,” said Bishop Folda to those gathered at Mass. “Into the barren, lifeless ground we plant seed, and then we wait. And before our eyes, new life comes forth. In the mystery of God’s creation, hard seed brings forth new plants, crops for us to cultivate that will bring forth a rich harvest and provide for the needs of God’s people. What makes this miracle even more wonderful is that God invites us to be part of it. The farmers prepare the land and plant the seed, they do all they can to help the seed grow, and then they watch the young crops come up from the earth. Only God can bring forth new life, but he allows us, especially those who work the land, to be part of this great miracle of nature. And he does this again and again and again!”

The Andersen farmstead was an especially appropriate place to celebrate God’s handiwork and blessings on those who make their living off the land. The Andersens have a parcel of land they call “The Holy Quarter” just a few miles north of the farmstead. On that quarter is a large crucifix driven into a pile of field stone. The cross was placed there by the late Father Charles Veach, who was known as “the farming priest” when he was pastor of St. Helena’s Church in Ellendale. That quarter of land that is now on the Andersen farm once belonged to Father Veach, and sometime in the mid-to-late 60s he erected the cross (the wood is Mediterranean cypress) as a testament to the faith of the farmers and ranchers in the area at the time.

“Throughout the gospels, we find Jesus using images of agriculture to communicate his message of mercy,” said Bishop Folda. “He speaks to us of the sower who sows his seed, the vine-grower, the shepherd, the harvest, and many other images besides. He makes it clear to us that the call to rural life is blessed by God in a special way, and that we are all called to be stewards of his creation. Land, crops, animals, all of these are placed in our care, and by means of them we serve God and our neighbor. We truly are participants in God’s amazing plan of creation.”