Sons of Mary 2021

Labor Day began our annual Sons of Mary fraternal hangout. What a perfect time to get away and reflect on the graces of this past year and prepare ourselves for whatever lies ahead. Thanks Mom and Dad for letting us use the cabin. Couldn't have asked for more.

6 of the 7 boys were able to make it: FB, Fr. Robert Rodgers, Fr. Hiep Nguyen, Fr. Brian Hess, Fr. Clark Lenz, Fr. Linh Vu.

To start our first morning off, the Lord blessed us with a young cow moose right out the cabin door.

No better way to give thanks than through our daily celebration of the Mass.

After breakfast then, we hit the trail.

And hiked into Lake Mclain.

Beautiful from the ground and the air.

No rush here. We ate lunch and took a nice siesta.

On the way out Linh spotted this friendly guy who had not a care in the world.

So we jumped back in the rigs and continued on.

These pics don't do the trail justice. The bolder hopping we did on the way up to East Tensleep Lake was probably the most intense 4x4ing I've ever done. If Bob wasn't in front breaking the trail, I would have probably turned Ol' White Horse around and gone home. Often the Lord leads us down roads that we can't turn back on.

It was worth the ride. East Tensleep Lake was on my bucket list. 

Nothing more peaceful than surfing mountain water.

Fr. Hiep took to it like riding a bike.

Some of the boys opted for fishing. This nice brook trout sure tasted good later that night. 

More than anything it was nice to just chill. 

It was so fitting and providential to conclude our retreat on the feast day of our Blessed Mother's Nativity. From her comes forth the Son of God. By entrusting ourselves, and in particular our priesthood, to her, she leads to Him. I know it's true because I've experienced her maternal goodness all throughout my life. This weekend was just another opportunity to re-up our commitment to Her. In Mary's arms, life is fun and we get the job done.