Tire Rotation

With a few highway miles awaiting me this week, I decided it was time to rotate the tires on White Horse. Usually the tire shop you bought the tires from will rotate them for you, but that place is back in Gillette. No problemo. 

Good tire rotation really extends the life of your tires. Not sure how often they say to do it, but every 15k miles or so is probably good. Been too long for us. 

The wear pattern on the inside of the front tires is of concern for me. This back-and-forth cupping usually means you have a tie-rod end out, or something that is causing the front wheels to not work in unison. For another day. 

Safety first. Our drive has a slight incline. Don't need any runaways around here. 

Once we blocked up the front, we jacked up the back and set her on stands. Then we could jack the fronts up independently. 

Thank God for airguns. 

Pulling the tires is always a good opportunity to look over the brakes. Good shape. 

My rotation pattern is backs to front and cross the fronts when you go to the back. 

Here's a trick with big tires that you need to lift off the ground. Stick your foot under the tire before it gets to the lugs, and roll it over it. Then you can give it some lift with your foot. Or you can use a tire-iron. 

I like to set the lug nuts on with the airgun and wrench them down with my long ratchet. I can almost hear Mr. Reachard yelling in my ear, "You have to torque those nuts down!" We work with what we got around here. 

Now is also a good time to grab the neighbor kid and check your tie pressure. 80psi in back and 70psi in front. 

While we were at it, we dusted off the interior. 

Ready to run. 

Good stuff. An ounce of maintenance is worth a pound of cure. I'd be happy to have the tire shop rotate my tires for me, but they aren't around. I could pay someone, but why-for when you can do it yourself. Besides, gives a guy a chance to check on his rig. Tires are where the rubber hits the road. If they are in good shape, the chances of not making it home for dinner are a lot slimmer. Let's ranch. 

Redemptive Suffering

Suffering is part of our salvation.

           https://youtu.be/gyuW2MFM2Sk         

Current Cross

Look through it with faith and have hope.

           https://youtu.be/TlMLfiK1sTo         

Last Hurrah

We've been hitting it hard so far and there was no sense in letting off the gas for our final day. One more day with Pope Leo and one more Mass in St. Peter's. 

On Wednesday's, the Holy Father delivers a morning address to pilgrims, known as the Wednesday Audience. Beings we were over here, we planned one extra day to take that in. No regrets. 

It's amazing how many pilgrims flood this place no matter what the occasion. 

Having a friend in the Vatican, we had Fr. Patrick get us in the back way, through the Swiss Guard. The SG wear their colorful uniforms when the Pope is at the Vatican. Interesting. 

Getting there early allowed us to get some decent seats. From this spot, you can see the Sistine Chapel in the background. Right about at the arrow is where the white smoke, from the election of a pope can be seen. Below that, on the upper level of the audience seats, are seated newly wed couples awaiting their blessing from the Holy Father. It is a cool thing, that if couples married within the last year come to the Wednesday Audience in the wedding attire, they get a personal visit and blessing with the Holy Father. 

Shortly after we landed, the skies opened up. 

People around here come prepared. Fortunately, the rain let up, for the most part. 

Before the audience began, the Holy Father made a trip through the audience. When he passed by our spot, and we were standing on chairs in the background, he and I made eye contact. Cool. 

Once he got settled, he gave his address. The Gospel was proclaimed in many languages and then he gave a homily, of sorts. At the end, he gave a blessing over all of us and the sacramentals we brought to be blessed.

As we departed, Pope Leo greeted folks seated near by, which was not us but neat to see on the big screen. 

At the end of the audience, they announced that there would be a  Mass for pilgrims inside the Basilica. So we patiently made our way through the crowd to land inside. I then headed for the sacristy to see if I could concelebrate.

Sure enough. This is the sacristy for St. Peter's Basilica. Large and beautiful, just like the rest of the church. A local bishop celebrated the Mass with 60 or so other priests from around the area. 

This was cool. The Mass was all in Italian, so I was fairly tuned out, outiside of the Eucharistic prayer. Therefore, I got to ponder all the aspects of St. Peter's sanctuary. 

After the Mass, we made our way out of the Vatican Square and headed down the Borgo Pio for lunch. This street is where we have spent most our time for meals and other hangouts. Good stuff. 

After that, the rain kicked back up!

So long Rome! What a fitting way to end a good pilgrimage. God's grace fell lavishly up us like this rain that fell from the sky. All we had to do is put ourselves in a place to receive it. That we have done. Now comes the work of allowing the grace we have received to bear fruit in our lives and the lives of those around us. Shouldn't be to hard if we follow the program, Mass and Mary. 

The source and summit of this pilgrimage was no doubt the Eucharist. This sacred encounter fueled us on our pilgrimage in Rome, and this same Sacramental Lord will continue to fuel us on our pilgrimage through life. Just as Mary helped Jesus mature and grow as a boy and man, so does she with us. As we go forward on the rest of life's pilgrimage, we'll do well to take Jesus up on His offer and, Behold our mother! (John 19:27) 

My greatest takeaway of this Rome experience is that the Kingdom of God on earth is alive and well! Rome embodies the Church, which is the presence of God's kingdom on earth, in mystery (LG 3). This reality is built upon the foundations of the Apostle Peter, upon this rock I will build my church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it. I will give you the keys to the kingdom of heaven (Matthew 16:18:19). 

The apostolic strength of this promise of God is made manifest at the Vatican. The authority that Jesus gave to Peter and the other apostles is still alive and well in the Magisterium of the Catholic Church. Through this governance, Jesus is able to continue to teach and sanctify His bride, the Church. As baptized Christians we participate in this reality. Now it's time to manifest it in our lives. Let's ranch!

Fun Stuff

What's been good about our Rome trip is that we have had plenty of free time to go wherever the Wind blows. So on Tuesday, we went downtown.

Everywhere you turn around here, there is something old and cool to see. 

We knew this was going to be a big day, so we found us an American breakfast. Good stuff.

I've been wanting to find me a stovetop coffee pot. As we wandered around, we found a friend who hooked us up. 

This marketplace was cool. All the produce and nicknacks you could want.

Our big plan was to rent some bicycles and roam around Rome.

So we did. We were surprised to learn that the Colosseum wasn't built until the late first century AD. It was also not the place of a lot of early Christian martyrdom. That happened more at the location of Nero's Circus, which is the modern-day Vatican. Wild. 

Biking is a good way to get around this city. Have to be a bit brave, though. 

We'd find somewhere we'd like to see and then lock up our ponies. 

Here is a typical drinking fountain around town. This water is part of the Roman aqueduct system developed back in BC days, which plumbs water into the city from mountain lakes.

There's always a hole in the copper downspout. If you plug it, it gives you a place to drink from.

Refreshing. 

Eventually we ditched the bikes and returned to foot. There's many church supply shops around here. Barbiconi is a must stop for every priest. Here, we scored a monstrance for the parish. Good stuff! 

The Church of Santi Domenico had a great tribute to St. Frassati. Cool guy.

The Basilica di Santa Maria sopra Minerva is where St. Catherine of Siena lays to rest for all to venerate. 

The original Calling of Matthew by Caravaggio is in the French church San Luigi dei Francesi.

This German church is one of Josh’s favorites. Good stuff. 

Here's the description. 

Then we met back up with Fr.  Patrick, who showed us around his workspace, the dicastery for the causes of saints. He showed us the archives and we gotta put our hands on the files for saints like John Vianney, Mother Teresa, John the 23rd, as well as saw the files for Acutis and Frassati. Cool stuff!

Nice view from their office space windows.

Later that evening, we met up with a friend of a friend who took us out to dinner at a pizzeria in old town.

This is classic Roman fine dinery. 

This pillar is an actual remnant of an old Roman theater. Wild.

Fr. Mario, a parish priest for the Diocese of Rome, and his sister, treated us to a great Italian meal. Super fun.

That’s ranchin’ Roman style. Great day taking in the culture. Magnitude like this is hard to comprehend. You just have to receive it. We’re thankful for this opportunity and we look forward to one more day of fun. Ranch on. 

Assisi

We decide to spend one day outside of Rome. No better place to go other than Assisi, the resting place of St. Francis, St. Claire, and St. Carlo Acutis. 

It was about a two hour train ride from Rome. That was after a five minute sustained sprint to catch the darn thing! 

Assisi is quaint, but on a hillside. 

Making everywhere we walked up hill. 

St. Francis, of the twelfth century, is the hometown hero. This is known as the St. Francis Gate.  

Beautiful, different, courtyards around this place. 

The Basilica of St. Francis was our first stop. Here his tomb is venerated. No pictures inside these holy sites. 

More walking. 

Before we stopped for lunch. 

A siesta was fitting before we carried on our journey. 

After lunch, we celebrated Mass in a side chapel of the Basilica of St. Claire, where her body lies in state. We also visited St. Mary Major church, where St. Carlo’s body rests. This was neither of those churches, but was near by. 

Our last stop was the Basilica of St. Mary of the Angels, down the hill from the other big churches. This basilica houses the Portiuncula, the little church that St. Francis prayed in a lot and was the Franciscan original headquarters. Cool stuff. 

If we were in Italy, we needed to checkout Assisi. Just the number of saints entombed here, speaks of the holiness of the place. We were not disappointed. Hopefully, our deepened friendship with these holy members of the Body of Christ, will entice them to intercede more powerfully on our behalf. Regardless, their example of Christian virtue is inspiring, Ranching on.