March 2005 - Father Tim Schroeder

By the end of this month, Father Tim Schroeder will assemble with a group of the faithful in the cold and fallow sugar beet fields outside Fargo, North Dakota, to ask for God's blessing on this year's crop and the people who will work to produce the harvest.

They are Hispanic migrant workers and their families from Mexico and Texas, who will labor in these fields until October and then return to the South when the harvest is in.

Many have been coming back for 20 years or more, and many of these devout Catholics have begun to rely on Father Tim's annual "ministry of presence" for their spiritual sustenance. As Father Tim moves among the parishioners, smiles come easily in spite of their hardships and long hours of back-breaking work, and he offers blessings and kind words of encouragement to them. Father Tim enjoys his regular visits here in this unlikely part of the Lord's vineyard.

God's plan for Father Tim Schroeder unfolded over time. The young priest had studied Spanish in order to follow in the footsteps of Father Jack Davis, another diocesan priest, to Peru. But it soon became evident that the needs of the Spanish-speaking migrants around Grafton were so great that Father Schroeder accepted the assignment to "mission" right here in America, in a place not far from where he grew up. God wanted Father Tim to stay close to home.

Father Schroeder has roots sunk deep in farming. He was raised on a farm about 170 miles due South of Grafton, where his father grew corn and flax. With 17 brothers and sisters, Father Schroeder learned early how to share - in the chores, and in the fun.

He has bonded well with this three-season community. He's invited to weddings and other family celebrations, and is embraced by the Hispanics as their "Padre." He makes sure they know about the Spanish Mass he offers at St. John the Evangelist Church in Grafton, and makes the rounds to anoint the sick and make all the children aware of preparation for sacraments.
He knows, and God lets him know, that he is right where he should be - where he's most needed.

Catholic Extension provides him with a small stipend to allow him to continue his "ministry of the fields." He is astonished by the devout and bursting-at-the seams faith of these migrants, who seem to have so little of everything else.
"Their trust in God," says Father Schroeder, and he gestures to the tilled earth beneath his feet and the area around him, "is right here."

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