Universal

The Church is one and many.

           https://youtu.be/DDp1BJXUv_I         

Compare and Despair

Follow Christ and we'll all be good.

           https://youtu.be/6Bh3RNvGjlI         

Immaculate Mary

In honor of the feast of the Immaculate Heart of Mary, we gave the shrine at our house a freshening up.

This statue of our Blessed Mother and the structure that houses her, originated in Tensleep Canyon at Fr. Cyril Hmelovsky’s cabin. Fr. Hmelovsky was the forever priest in Worland who baptized Mom and later baptized me. When he passed, Grandpa inherited the shrine and erected it on the hill at Neiber for all the world to venerate. 

We call her Our Lady of the Intersection because she watches over Hwy 20 where the South Flat and Gooseberry Creek roads intersect. Years ago there was a fatal accident here, which gave rise to the need for her intercession. Especially in the summer, a lot of travelers, for work and play, cross her path. Mary has done a good job of keeping this corner accent free since this shrine has been her. 

About 17 years ago, we reinforced the structure with some 2 7/8", allowing it to withstand the Wyoming wind. 

That was about the last time it was painted as well. Since we recently painted the house, it was time to spruce the shrine up too. 

So we scraped and knocked off the old paint as best we could.

And then got after the new coat. 

We like to keep it the same color as our house on the hill. 

One thing about painting old outdoor lumber, it will give you a chance to do it again in the future. We just painted where the blue was pealing, with a paint and primer combo. Once it dried, it matched just right. 

The statue itself needed a little TLC. Birds like to build a next on the structure behind her. Consequently, her head is often their perch. I doubt she minds. 

So we scrubbed her all up. 

Muy bien. 

Our Lady of the Intersection, pray for us!

Good stuff. People love passing by our Blessed Mother, knowing that she is watching over us. In reality, all we are doing is taking serious the Scripture verse that all generations will call her blessed (Luke 1:48). I love Mary. She has helped me through so much. True devotion to Mary is following in our Lord’s footsteps who totally entrusted Himself to her. When we behold our Mother (John 19:27), as Jesus commanded, we stay peaceful as children and are giving the guidance to carry out the Father's will. May Mary, not only lead us to Jesus, may she also bring out Jesus in us. Let's ranch. 

Exhaust Repair

White Horse has had an exhaust leak for the past year or so. Finally I reached under there to feel where it was coming from, only to discover that it was coming from the manifold and not a gasket. Dang. 

Much to my chagrin, the manifold was cracked. So we set out to weld it up.

The job was doable, just not very inviting. With some time back home, we took it on. 

Standing on your head is about the only way to get a grip on the plug wires and break the bolts loose. Thankfully, they threaded out of the head pretty good. 

Underneath too, the nuts came right of the manifold flange.

With a little finagling, she came out. 

There she be. The last port is going to run the hottest, collecting the exhaust of the three cylinders that proceeded it. 

After we took off the heat shield,

The fullness of the crack was revealed to us. 

It almost broke all the way around. 

So we cleaned up it good with a wire brush. 

Changed the tip on our cutting torch to a welding tip and grabbed some brazing rod.

Big flame or little flame? Only one way to find out. Bring the blue flame to a cone before you start. 

Brazing works best if the whole surface is hot. Makes the melting point of the rod closer to the temp on the metal it is clinging too. Brazing doesn’t melt into the metal like other forms of welding. It kind of sits on top.

Tough weld. We'll take it. 

This project revealed that the spark plug wire were melting by being too close to the exhaust heat. 

So we got new wires and slipped some heat shield over the part that connects to the spark plug. Hopefully it works. 

Back together, we go. 

Big job. Glad it's done. I'm glad to not hear the leak anymore. But I'm pretty excited by the extra power not having the spark plugs misfire. On to the next one.

Fruits

 We can know a tree by its fruits.

           https://youtu.be/p_F40iP1Zrk         

75 Years Strong

I'm a shindig guy. And when it's for a good cause, all the better. In 2025, our church celebrates the 75th year of its dedication to God. Sounds like good reason to throw a party to me.

The Gem of the Diocese, said Bishop McGovern who commissioned the building of the stone church in the late 40s. Because there was so much communal effort that went in to its construction, we thought it was only right to invite the entire community to join in our celebration. 

We went all out. Late June in Wyoming, you never know what the weather will be like. Best to be prepared. 

Many hands make light work. Everybody had their own area to cover. Delegation is the key to success. 

We had people on the food and people on the games. 

We had the 4th degree Knights of Columbus host an honor guard. This is the 75th year of their founding in Buffalo as well.  

Then came the big day, June 24th, the Nativity of St. John the Baptist. Three of my buddy priest were able to join in the fun. Good turn out for Mass. 

After which, we all lined up for burgers. 

We had plenty of games to entertain the kids. 

After they changed out of their duds, the Knights of Columbus manned the grill. 

And the Council of Catholic Women provided all the fixings. 

The Big Little Buffalo Band was also a nice touch. 

We had memorabilia up and even made a video to highlight our history, past and present. 

Special thanks to Mr. Sanchez for his good videography. 

Perfect timing. Just as the people dispersed, the skies opened up. 

Praise God! What a fun evening and what a great reason to celebrate. The Catholic Church has been present in this area since 1880. Standing at the pulpit in our little stone church, I thought of all times people had come here to worship God. What a legacy. Too much to put into words. Special thanks to all who made tonight possible. Let's do it again next year!

Corpus Christi Procession

Don't tempt me with a good time! The rubrics for the Solemnity of the Most Holy Body and Blood of Christ, suggest that a Eucharistic Procession after Mass is right and just. Well, our Church plant sits right on a city block, making a procession easy. No reason not to. 

Wanting to do it up right, we ordered a processional canopy from Catholic Liturgicals. They do good work for a much cheaper price. This 6'x5' top is beautiful, but needed some poles to make it serve for a canopy over the monstrance as we process around the block.

It is ready made for poles to attach at each corner. 

So I called up John, picked up 1 1/4" dowels from the lumber yard, and got to work. First step was to cut them down to 6'. 

Then round down the ends. No cutting corners on a job like this. 

Then we drilled a pilot hole in the end.

And screwed in a lag bolt. 

After cutting off the head of the bolt, it slipped right into the sewed grommet hole.

To cut the rawness of the wood, we coated them with a bit of linseed oil. Hopefully with more than I got on the floor. 

Remembering that the wind in Wyoming can blow, we attached an eyelet to run the stings through to keep the top settled on the pole. 

Worked good! 

Fun stuff. No denying we are Catholic around here. Jesus said, unless you eat my flesh and drink my blood you have no life within you. Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life and I will raise him up on the last day. For my flesh is food indeed and by blood is drink indeed (John 6:53-55). Our Lord's real presence, body, blood, soul, and divinity, is wholly, truly, really, and substantially contained in the Blessed Sacrament of the Eucharist (CCC 1374). 

Jesus is alive and well in the Consecrated Host at every Catholic Mass. That is worth receiving and also worth sharing. Eucharistic processions are a way for us to share the Sacramental Jesus with the entire world. It is also a way of blessing our ground and encouraging the faith of the people. "The Eucharist is 'the source and summit of the Christian life'" (CCC 1324). Corpus Christi Sunday, along with a Eucharistic Procession, is a way of driving this truth home. Let's ranch.