As we turned onto the caliche farm to market road, we had about five miles before we reached our destination. I grew up on a farm and spent twenty-four years of my adult life farming. I still can’t help but do a little “windshield farming” as I drive along. It was a hot day in June, the center pivots were watering the corn and other summer crops, and the grass looks like it needs a rain.
          We are getting close to our destination, and we pass by some cows under the shade of the trees. My wife, Teague, states matter-of-factly, “Belted Galloways”. I’m impressed by her statement. When I met her in 1980, she was a city girl from Dallas, but she can hold her own as a country girl now.
          We turned into the farmhouse on this warm Sunday afternoon, and we pull up to the what looks to be a large garage with an awning out and the doors open. There are chickens walking the grounds and livestock in the pens. Old and new farm equipment are lined up ready to use or maybe just retired. There are a few people gathered under the shade with the fan running in the background. They were here for the Rural Life Mass. Sure enough, we were at the right place.
         I began to get things prepared for the Mass. There was a makeshift altar, credence table, and presider’s chair. I gathered my vestments and found a hook hanging from the ceiling and hung them there for the moment. Before long, Bishop Zurek arrived as well as Fr. Shane Wieck, they too hung their vestments from hooks hanging from the ceiling.
          As the people began to gather, I visited a little with the owner of the farm, Paul Detten. He told me that this very place was where they butchered the hogs and made sausage every winter. There is even a hint of that butcher shop smell in the air.
          Today is the Feast of Pentecost, and the vestments are red symbolizing the Holy Spirit, but the red also symbolizes the blood of the martyrs and the ultimate martyr, Jesus Christ. It seems appropriate that the Mass should be celebrated in such a setting, and seeing the vestments hang from these butchering hooks only reinforces the sacrifice that will be celebrated here today.
          A good crowd has arrived. There are babies as well as those well along in years. There are many families present and children and adults find a seat. The bishop has recently been on pilgrimage to Europe, and he shares how impressed he was with the faith of the people he met there, but he also takes notice of the faith of the people present. The presence of families with children of all ages.
          A small girl sings the Gloria from heart. It inspires us all. Why? Because the reason she knows this song is because she has been to Mass. She has heard it so many times and sung along. It is now written on her heart.
          As the bishop presides, I can’t help but think about him presiding in beautiful European churches just a few weeks ago, and now he is presiding on the farm. I can’t help but think about this line from Ecclesia de Eucharistia, an encyclical from St. Pope John Paul II, “...even when it is celebrated on the humble altar of a country church, the Eucharist is always in some way celebrated on the altar of the world.” Heaven and earth are being united, and the glory of God is among us.
          After the celebration of the Mass, the people stay and visit. There are cold drinks and some of the good sausage and tortillas to eat. We gather our things and follow the same road home.
         Driving by the farms and the cattle and checking the crops as we go.

Rev. Davin Winger is a deacon of the Diocese of Amarillo. This article was previously published on his blog, Mary Mail.