Grace on the Moon

The tiny spacecraft descended toward the first human landing on the moon. Red lights flashed warnings that little fuel remained. Radio contact with Earth was lost. The tiny craft headed toward a rock field that threatened to destroy the astronauts upon landing. At 300 feet from the surface and with seconds of fuel left, Neil Armstrong took over the preprogrammed controls and guided the lunar module to a softer landing. Armstrong announced to the world, “The Eagle has landed.”

Shortly after, Buzz Aldrin radioed Earth and said “Houston, this is Eagle. . . . I would like to request a few moments of silence. I would like to invite each person listening in, wherever and whomever he may be, to contemplate for a moment the events of the past few hours and to give thanks in this own individual way.”

Buzz Aldrin then performed a communion ceremony on the moon. “I opened the little plastic packages which contained bread and wine. I poured wine into the chalice my parish had given me. In the one-sixth gravity of the moon, the wine curled slowly and gracefully up the cup. It was interesting to think that the very first liquid ever poured on the moon, and the first food eaten there, were consecrated elements. Just before I partook of the elements I read the words which I had chosen to indicate our trust that as man probes into space, we are in fact acting in Christ. I sensed especially strongly my unity with our church back home, and with the Church everywhere. I read: ‘I am the vine, you are the branches. Whoever remains in me and I in him, will bear much fruit; for you can do nothing without me’”.

After walking on the moon and riding on the lunar rover, the two astronauts shared a Thanksgiving and Communion meal.