Thursday, June 15, 2017

Feast of Corpus Christi

Communion on the Moon
By Bill Carrell

"The Moon Lander touched down at 3:17 EST, Sunday, July 20, 1969.[Buzz] Aldrin had brought with him a tiny communion kit, given him by his church, that had a silver chalice and wine vial about the size of the tip of his finger. During the morning he radioed, "Houston, this is Eagle. This is the Moon Lander pilot speaking. I would like to request a few moments of silence. I would like to invite each person listening in, whoever or wherever he may be, to contemplate for a moment the events of the last few hours, and to give thanks in his own individual way."

"In the radio blackout," he wrote later, "I opened the little plastic packages which contained the bread and the wine. I poured the wine into the chalice our church had given me. In the one-sixth gravity of the moon, the wine slowly curled and gracefully came up the side of the cup. Then I read the Scripture, 'I am the vine, you are the branches. Whosoever abides in me will bring forth much fruit.' I had intended to read my communion passage back to earth, but at the last minute NASA had requested that I not do this. NASA was already embroiled in a legal battle with Madelyn Murray O'Hare, the celebrated opponent of religion, over the Apollo 8 crew reading from Genesis while orbiting the moon at Christmas. I agreed reluctantly..." "Eagle's metal body creaked. I ate the tiny Host and swallowed the wine. I gave thanks for the intelligence and spirit that had brought two young pilots to the Sea of Tranquility. It was interesting for me to think: the very first liquid ever poured on the moon, and the very first food eaten there, were the communion elements."

(Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin were the first men to walk on the moon in the Apollo 11 space mission.)

2 comments:

  1. I rarely come back here to comment. But, just Wow! And I want you to know that your posts mean so very much to me

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  2. I love this story too. Glad to share it. And thanks for the encouragement and for being a Day Book reader. Patricia

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