Reflections and Pictures of Bishop Paul Etienne's Ordination and Installation...Day One

How do I begin to share with you what experiencing my brother's Ordination/Installation of Bishop for the Diocese of Cheyenne, WY? While in Cheyenne I met a very good priest friend of my brothers. His name is Fr. Randy. He told me he likes to read my blog. I told him I wasn't sure how to post this big event in our lives. He told me to write from my heart. So here I go.

I arrived in Wyoming late afternoon on December 7th...my 48th birthday. My parents and brother, Fr. Zach travelled with me. We were greeted at the Cheyenne Airport by my brothers, Bishop-elect Paul and Fr. Bernie...who had arrived earlier in the day...members from the K of C, Paul's staff and other kind people from Cheyenne. We were taken to my brother's residence to drop off our luggage, tour the residence and have mass.

After mass we went out to dinner. We ate at the Plains Hotel. The food was very good and everyone was happy to be together and enjoy a quiet meal. Those in attendance were my parents, Paul and Kay Etienne, three of my four brothers (Fathers Bernie and Zach and Bishop-elect Paul), Mark Seabrook, a good friend of my brother, Paul, and Fr. Randy, a good priest friend of Bernie, Paul and Zach. After we were finished eating our main meal I was surprised with a birthday cake! We all enjoyed the dessert as we shared stories from the past and talked about what the next few days had in store for us. Surprisingly, everyone was at peace. We finished our time at the restaurant and headed back to the Bishop's Residence.

Bernie decided that Paul's Crosier needed an extra polishing before the Installation. Archbishop Daniel Buechlein, from the Archdiocese of Indianapolis, gifted Paul with this Crosier. It was made by a Benedictine Monk from St. Meinrad. As you can see in this picture Bernie and Paul are not only brothers...but best of friends as well.

We shared a few more stories before retiring for the night. It had been a long day of traveling and we knew the next two days were going to be packed. We wanted to be well rested for the upcoming events!

The end of the first day...