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Des Moines... At the National Catholic Rural Life Conference's (NCRLC) 75th Anniversary celebration, November 13-14, 1998 at the Hotel Fort Des Moines, Des Moines, Iowa, Darrel and Juanita Buschkoetter will receive the first Isidore and Maria Award and will be given a print of the newly unveiled icon of the patron saints of rural life.
The National Catholic Rural Life Conference, in commemoration of its 75th Anniversary, commissioned noted iconographer, Meltem Aktas with AXIS MUNDI Studios in Chicago, Illinois to produce a Spanish-Catalan style icon of these saints.
"The Isidore and Maria Award honors a rural couple who exemplify fidelity to a dream, to a vocation and to a love which combines family, integrity, stewardship and religion," states Br. David G. Andrews, CSC, executive director of the NCRLC. "This is what Isidore and Maria represent: shared fidelity to a dream. We could find no better exemplars of Isidore and Maria for our age than Darrel and Juanita Buschkoetter."
The Buschkoetters are young Catholic family farmers who live the Catholic rural ethic. They farm outside Lawrence, Neb. and continue the struggle to sustain a family close to the land and close to God. Recently, the Buschkoetters and their three children, Audrey, Abby and Whitney, were the subjects of a Public Television "Frontline" documentary, The Farmer's Wife, broadcast September 21-23, 1998. The critically acclaimed 6 1/2 hour documentary outlines many of the issues facing family farmers today.
St. Isidore was born in Madrid, Spain, about the year 1110. He came from a poor and humble family. From childhood, he worked as a farm hand on the De Vergas estate outside of Madrid. He was prayerful, devoted to his religion. He loved the good earth, was honest and careful in his farming practices. He was gentle and kind to his animals. Isidore married Maria Torribia. They had only one son who died in his youth. Both were charitable and ever willing to help neighbors in distress. St. Isidore died on May 15, 1170; his wife Maria died a little later. The earthly remains of the couple are found over the main altar of the cathedral in Madrid, Spain. St. Isidore was constituted as the special protector of American farmers on February 22, 1947 and of the NCRLC.
"How appropriate it is that this farm couple be recognized like farm couples everywhere who are 'partners with God,' in furnishing the world with food, fiber, the witness to love of the earth, of each other, their family and of God," says Andrews.
The Isidore and Maria Award will be presented November 14, 1998 as part of the 75th Anniversary Celebration in Des Moines, Iowa. Presenting the award will be the Most Rev. Raymond L. Burke, president of the NCRLC board of directors and bishop of the Diocese of
La Crosse, Wis.
The National Catholic Rural Life Conference is a membership organization grounded in a spiritual tradition which brings together the Church, care for creation and care for community. The NCRLC fosters programs of direct service and systemic change. As an educator in the faith, the NCRLC seeks to relate religion to the rural world; develops support services for rural pastoral ministers; serves as a prophetic voice and as a catalyst and convener for social justice.
For more information about the NCRLC 75th event, please contact the national office at 4625 Beaver Ave., Des Moines, IA 50310; phone (515) 270-2634; fax (515) 270-9447; or email to NCRLC@MCHSI.COM.
