Rob Irwin:  

Hello Everyone: God is Good! I have been enjoying catching up on the stories of your lives, especially the people from Madras High School. Can you believe 25 years? Where did the time go? After School I went to Oregon State University where I was pretty active in the Drama department, my fraternity (Delta Upsilon), mountain biking, and Church activities. After graduation I went up to my old stomping grounds of Seattle to look for a job, but realized I really felt called to be a priest. So Bishop Connolly sent me to Mount Angel Seminary for the next 7 years to study and pray. It was a life changing experience. We studied under Benedictine Monks and spent much of the day in prayer, study and works of charity. I wish everyone could have the chance to spend at least a year praying and learning more about God and faith. I Graduated from Mount Angel and was ordained in a very special ceremony at St. Patrick¿s in Madras back in 1995. My first position was as an Associate Pastor under my mentor Fr. Dennis Strachota in Pendleton. They say that your first assignment is where you hang your heart and that is true. I was in the Let R' Buck town for 3 years and helped to make the Pendleton Roundup more family friendly. It also became more successful at the same time. As a seminarian (that¿s what they call you before you are ordained) I had spent some time at the Cathedral in Baker City. A Cathedral is the main church for the region, kind of like a Mormon temple as opposed to a stake house. I had always dreamed of one day being the Cathedral Rector, but that position is only given as an honor to older, more established priests. Somehow God blessed me with that position as my first assignment on my own. It was truly an honor, but literally consumed every moment of my days with all the extra responsibilities of the Mother Church and 3 distant missions. I was pasturing 4 c...Expand for more