Brother Priests

For Fr. Zach and Fr. Drew Mabee, the bond of brotherhood led them not only to Catholicism, but to priestly vocations in Michigan, as well.

(0:00) We meet Zach and Drew Mabee, priests of the Diocese of Lansing and Archdiocese of Detroit, respectively — and brothers. Two generally different siblings are bonded together by both brotherhood and priesthood.

(2:03) Father Zach talks about what their protestant upbringing was like in Atlanta, and we learn how this changed when the family moved to Toledo and the boys started at a Jesuit school.

(4:16) Zach attends the University of Michigan, where he joins a campus group that helps him continue fostering the spiritual care he’d nurtured in high school. This group, paired with his studies in philosophy, led him to Catholicism and, eventually, RCIA.

(6:58) While his parents were skeptical at first, they eventually became tremendously supportive, and Zach enrolled at Sacred Heart Major Seminary and was ordained in 2015.

(8:31) Meanwhile, Drew was chasing thrills as a very passionate motocross rider. This, however, eventually left him feeling a certain emptiness, one that his brother was able to help him fill.

(11:34) After conversations and prayer with his brother, Drew’s big encounter comes in the form of a devastating motocross crash, and from then on he commits himself fully to getting to know the Lord.

(13:31) After a post-grad breakup, Drew begins to realize that maybe the Lord is asking for more than he’d initially expected. He became Catholic in 2012, entered the seminary in 2014, and was ordained in 2020.

(14:42) Drew and Zach both reflect on what an unparalleled gift it is to share the bonds of brotherhood and priesthood.

Reporting by Gabriella Patti; narration by Casey McCorry; production by Ron Pangborn