Band of Brothers

Wyoming Catholic Cowboys priestly hangout in the Big Horns

Concluding on the feast of the Birth of John the Baptist, six of us Wyoming brother priests got together to hangout; myself, Fr. Robert Rogers, Fr. Clark Lenz, Fr. Andrew Kinstetter, Fr. Brian Hess, and Fr. Hiep Nguyen.  The best way I can explain the necessity of priestly fraternity is by way of analogy.  Take a fire with six logs in it.  Together they make a healthy burning fire. Separate those logs, and one by one they go out.  We priests need to stick together, and I thank God for my band of brothers.  Here's some of the fun we shared up in the Big Horn Mountains.

Mom and Dad so graciously let us use their cabin right off of West Tensleep Creek

Fr. Hiep enjoying some mountain air

Mom even had our first meal all ready to go.  Yeah, cowboys still need their mamas. 

I do do normal priestly work

Off hiking to Mirror Lake above West Tensleep Lake

A shot of the tree line

Fr. Robert imitating Paul MaClean

I'm impressed

I bet pound for pound there are more moose in the Big Horns than any where else in the state

You just can't beat the beauty of the Big Horns.  They are hands down my favorite mountain range.

What a gift it was to get away with my Wyoming Catholic Cowboy priest bros.  Concluding our hang time on the Birth of John the Baptist I am reminded that God calls each one of us by name.  We are one band of brothers, but each individually members of it.  None of us have the same charisms, but we all have the same mission, holiness.  With the grace of God and the encouragement of one another, all of us can reach that goal.  Mary, Mother of priests, pray for us!