Bishop Dennis Walsh celebrates a Rural Life Mass at St. James the Less Catholic Church in St. Paul on Sept. 5. Assisting were Deacon Dan Freeman of St. Mary Parish-Wilton; Father Sijo James, parochial vicar of St. James the Less-St. Paul, St. John the Baptist-Houghton, St. Mary of the Visitation-West Point and St. Boniface-Farmington; the cluster’s pastor, Father Dan Dorau; and Deacon Mike Linnenbrink, who serves the cluster.
By Lindsay Steele
The Catholic Messenger
ST. PAUL — For more than 100 years, Ron Overberg’s family has owned farmland overlooking the tiny community of St. Paul. In the center of town — population 100 — sits St. James the Less Catholic Church. “It’s easy to recognize God during morning prayer when you look over the fields and see the steeple,” he said.
Overberg and members of the Together in Christ Parishes, which include St. James the Less-St. Paul, St. John the Baptist-Houghton, St. Mary of the Visitation-West Point and St. Boniface-Farmington, gathered on the evening of Sept. 5 for a Rural Life Mass. Bishop Dennis Walsh presided at the Mass, which takes place annually around harvest time.
The charm of the countryside
The celebration was scheduled to take place outdoors at the Leo and Ronda Schinstock farm in rural West Point, but was moved to the church in St. Paul due to excessive heat.
Even within the shelter of the air-conditioned church, the charm of the country was a feast for the senses. The street in front of the church was lined with dust-covered cars and trucks, symbols of the grid-like pattern of gravel roadways that have served rural families for generations. Cornfields stretched into the horizon behind the church, forming a gently rippling sea of green under clear blue skies. Ears of corn adorned the railings at the church’s entrance, and grain elevators competed with the steeple for the top spot in the skyline.
Inside the church, a handmade green and white “farmer’s prayer” quilt draped over the ambo offered words of encouragement for faith-filled farming families. Baskets sat empty in front of the altar, waiting for youths in the parishes to bring up squash and other early-fall produce as an offering to God.
Father Dan Dorau, pastor of the parish cluster, greeted guests at the start of Mass. “It would have been pretty hot out there,” he said as the congregation nodded in agreement. He was thankful to have a place to celebrate “the people of the land, the people of the community.”
Father Dorau concelebrated the Mass alongside the cluster’s new parochial vicar, Father Sijo James of the Diocese of Pathanamthitta, India. Deacon Mike Linnenbrink, who serves the parishes, and Deacon Dan Freeman, whose diocesan assignment is promoting Catholic Rural Life, assisted.
Knowing your neighbor
Charlee Overberg, left, and Addison Menke carry canned produce during the offertory at a Rural Life Mass at St. James Parish in St. Paul on Sept. 5.
In his opening prayer, Bishop Walsh thanked God for the blessings of countryside and open space, including the neighbors who “know us by name and who enter into the joys and sorrows of our lives. Help us to make responsible use of our blessings and the advantages we have in country living. Help us to make our community also a communion.”
Later, he pointed to the Dust Bowl — a severe environmental and agricultural disaster of the 1930s — as a turning point for American farmers. For many years, “the prevailing mindset had been that a farmer’s land was … his business, his business alone. And the Dust Bowl proved that that was just an illusion, because the wind didn’t care about property lines,” the bishop said in his homily. Recovery began “when the community realized they were tethered to one another. In Church teaching, we call this solidarity.”
These bonds aren’t always easy to navigate, he said. He recalled a parishioner at one of the rural communities he served as priest in the Toledo, Ohio, Diocese telling him, “The great thing about living in a small town is that you get to know your neighbor. The bad thing about living in a small town is that you get to know your neighbor.” The bishop shared a laugh with the congregation and asked them to look out for each other without casting judgment. “You are your brother’s keeper,” he said.
He also motivated the farmers in the audience to be good stewards of the earth and its resources. “When you’re up early in the morning, sweating through the humid days of summer, you are participating directly in God’s ongoing act of creation. You are feeding the world.”
Father Dorau appreciated Bishop Walsh’s poignant reminder that we are one with the land and have a responsibility to God and to each other to treat creation with respect. “Many of my parishioners are involved in agriculture, either as farmers or the industries that support them,” he told The Catholic Messenger.
Finding God on the farm
After Mass, the congregation walked to the parish center next door to share a meal together and participate in a Season of Creation prayer service, led by local farmers Lee and Linda Pieper. Reflecting on his experience looking into the night sky after a long day of work, Lee Pieper said, “This is a creation that somebody created for us to enjoy. How many people have seen the Milky Way and the stars all around? Isn’t it just an amazing thing?” The crowd responded in affirmation. “It’s my favorite,” said Marie Nelson, who later spoke about her family’s faith and farming journey.
The meal was funded by the last of eight Catholic Extension grants the parish has utilized over the past two years in an effort to bring faith and families together, Father Dorau said. “It brings me joy when all four of the churches come together to celebrate with shared prayer, a shared choir, and a shared meal.”
