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Greetings, friends!
The freshmen have moved onto campus and the upperclassmen are tricklling in as I type to you. Summer is coming to an end here in Missoula.
And that’s probably a good place to start. Summer here has definitely been an “outdoor season.” While we did hit 100 degrees a couple of times and the higher heat drove some people indoors, I was definitely saying, “This isn’t all that bad.” Which was true: the high heat only felt like low 90s and, by the end of the day, we would always be in the 60s. Summer without humidity really is something!
But with low humidity comes wildfires and there have been several out in the West this year. Smoke from Oregon, Washington, and Canada poured into our little valley and gave us amazing sunsets for a few weeks. While the smoke didn’t bother me at all, I know it can be tough on others. Thankfully, we’ve had some rain recently and the smoke is getting better. For a couple of weeks, I couldn’t see the mountains around town, the smoke was so thick. But those mountains are returning.
And so is Fall. As I write this on my front patio, a cold front has come through and the temperature has dropped. There is a crisp smell in the air as the still-green leaves rustle in the wind. And since my arrival, we have lost about 90 minutes of daylight; the shortening of the days has become noticeable. It’s only mid-August, but I know the smell and feel of Autumn – and I can tell it is right around the corner. It is a little strange, being able to “smell” and “feel” it this early… But, being up here, Fall is a lot closer than in St. Louis.
Beyond the weather, I should mention that I live on frat / sorority row. They have been returning, too. Just last week, some of the boys were playing beer pong on the front lawn and listening to “classic oldies” like … Sublime. And the girls have been practicing welcome chants (?) for their pledges. One of their chants sounds very close to the base line of the 1950s song “In the Still of the Night.” I enjoy their spirit. It’s a little funny for me, knowing that I’m one of their neighbors – “the priests” or, “the priests on bikes.”
A couple parishioners gave me an amazing gravel bike last week. My pastor, Father Kirby, is already an avid mountain biker. And while I don’t really have much desire to do that, I have definitely wanted to pal around Missoula on a bike. The town is just so bike-friendly. So, I’ve been doing that a bit in my free time. Last Sunday, I happened upon a riverside park where the Missoula Symphony was holding a free concert: “The Best of John Williams.” (He is the composer who wrote some of my favorite movie soundtracks – Jurassic Park, Hook, Superman, Star Wars, the Olympic Theme, among many others). So I sat and listened, with mountains on my left, a river with rapids at my back, and my parish a ten minute bike ride away. Pretty idyllic.
Other ongoings….
My FOCUS missionaries have also arrived (they are tremendous) and they had a two-day in-service / retreat at a benefactor’s lovely cabin that sat just a couple miles from where the Yellowstone series was filmed. (I haven’t seen it and Montanans pretty much loathe the series and its portrayal of Montana). The scenery from that cabin’s patio is everything you think all of Montana is (but isn’t). Sipping coffee and praying lauds there once again had me asking: Where the heck am I?
I asked that question again when a couple of weeks ago, I was honored by a few priests who threw a very nice welcome dinner for me. I cannot emphasize enough how healthy and truly brotherly these priests are. I only just met a few of them, but we were laughing and conversing like we had known each other for years. There was a just an … ease. We barbecued and did what any Montana guys with 40 acres of open land would do: discharge various calibers of rifles and pistols into rusty parts of abandoned farm equipment, of course.
And ride the land in a vintage WWII Jeep.
(I’ll refrain from asking again my above-asked question).
Along the way, I had the great blessing of leading a seventh young adult wilderness retreat to Glacier National Park. They were tremendous. The group was from all over Missouri, KC, and Montana. We had a base camp, drove to trailheads, hiked just over 60 miles in 5 days, had Holy Mass along the trail (with a family of black bears interrupting us on one occasion!), and campfires each night. Instead of scary stories, we “shared graces” – that is, moments of the day when we saw God or experienced His grace. Some of that sharing was profound and amazing. I could write at length about this week, but I’ll just let the pictures do the talking.
For Labor Day weekend, I will be returning to Glacier for a two-day campout with University students. It’s wild to just have this in our backyard and have this as a kind of “Welcome Week” event.
We are also closing down a street in Missoula and throwing a block party. And, this Sunday, we are having Holy Mass in the center of campus (on a giant green, gathering space called The Oval). We are also going to hike “The M” (you will have to Google this) and eventually start evening Rosary Walks on campus.
And that’s just through Labor Day. …
It’s a little overwhelming, the many events and planning that goes into them – and all of the physical exertion (I’ve exercised more in the past month than I did during all of last year, what with all of the bike riding, hiking, and frisbee playing) – but I would have it no other way. This is an amazing assignment!
I am SO thankful that God has given me a new chapter in which I get to build with parishioners and students. For a lot of priests, ministry involves a lot of “tilling soil” or, worse, just laying a parish to rest. Worse still are those parishes where people fight their priests. I am so thankful that I have essentially none of that right now. My pastor and I spent most of yesterday just walking through awesome events that are coming up and ways we can just build them and make the campus and the parish better. I love that. Even though the weather indicates Autumn is coming, it is clearly springtime here.
