"At the end of the day, it's between you and God."

Ron Cattany had a long, full career in natural resources. Next on his agenda are supernatural resources.

After 35 years in Colorado state government shepherding minerals, fossil fuels, water and timber, Cattany, 55, at the end of this month will enter a seminary to become a Catholic priest.

When Cattany told one of his best friends he was going to be a priest, the old Regis High School buddy was not even mildly surprised.

“It was written on your forehead in freshman orientation,” his friend told him.

“I wish somebody had told me,” Cattany said.

He does recall first considering the priesthood when he was about 8, “like any Italian Catholic boy” at the time.

Interior Secretary Ken Salazar called Cattany, who served most recently as director of Colorado’s Division of Reclamation, Mining and Safety, one of the state’s great champions of land, water and natural resources.

Gov. Bill Ritter said Cattany’s career exemplified “the ideal of public service.”

Cattany says the priesthood is “just a different form of stewardship.”

After reaching retirement age with the state, Cattany said he asked God: “For 35 years, I’ve had the best job I could have. What do you want me to do next?”

He now begins a four-year program at Blessed John XXIII National Seminary in Weston, Mass., where older seminarians who already have had extensive education can take a faster track to priesthood than the usual six to eight years.[reference]