The Quiet Work of God

Br. Michael Zimmerman, SJ, found his vocation not in the spotlight, but in service

By Michael McGrath

When Br. Michael Zimmerman, SJ, entered the Jesuits, he thought he understood his calling.

“I came here to work,” he says with a laugh.

Prayer, meditation and long stretches of spiritual reflection tested him early. He wanted to build things, fix things and help people in practical ways. At one point, he nearly left.

Now 92, Br. Zimmerman has spent a lifetime quietly serving the Jesuit mission through mechanical skill, humility and reliability. He never became a priest, scholar or administrator. Instead, he kept boilers working, wired buildings and maintained vehicles to keep missions running.

At Holy Rosary Mission on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation in South Dakota, people came to know one thing about him: He could fix almost anything. It was exactly where he believed God wanted him.

Brother Zimmerman grew up on a farm in western Iowa in a deeply Catholic community, where church, school and daily life were tightly connected. The Jesuits were already part of family life, as two of his brothers and three uncles had entered the order. But academics were never his strength.

“There was always so much work to do and people to help,” he says. “That attracted me. I wasn’t good at studies. But I liked figuring out how things worked.”

That instinct showed up early. One Christmas, he received a toy train set. Family lore says he immediately took it apart—then put it back together.

After entering the Jesuits, Br. Zimmerman learned plumbing, electrical work, heating systems and mechanics mostly through experience and persistence.

“When they asked if I knew how to wire a house, I said no,” he recalls. “But I told them I’d learn.”

And he did.

Much of his Jesuit life was spent on the Pine Ridge Reservation, where he managed automotive and maintenance operations.

“To me, that was the work of a brother,” he says. “You keep things going.”

Later, he spent nearly 15 years in Argentina helping support a Jesuit university project. He learned Spanish, maintained facilities and came to know a fellow Jesuit named Jorge Mario Bergoglio. Long before the world knew him as Pope Francis, Br. Zimmerman knew him as a humble Jesuit superior who treated everyone warmly.

“He was just one of you,” Br. Zimmerman says. “Very down to earth.”

When Bergoglio was elected pope in 2013, Br. Zimmerman was back in South Dakota working on a renovation project. Someone rushed in to announce that a Jesuit from Argentina had become pope.

“I still choke up thinking about it,” Br. Zimmerman says softly.

Years later, while recovering from surgery shortly before his 90th birthday, Br. Zimmerman received a handwritten birthday blessing from Pope Francis after fellow Jesuits shared their history together.

Still, recognition has never mattered much to Br. Zimmerman. His life has been built around obedience, reliability and daily acts of service.

Again and again, he accepted assignments because they were needed.

Again and again, he trusted that God would help him figure things out.

“You think I did that on my own?” he says with a smile. “I asked for help every step of the way.”

Looking back on decades of service, Br. Zimmerman doesn’t talk much about accomplishments. He talks about gratitude.

“You just do the work in front of you,” he says.

And in that quiet work, he found God.