It was late and this little guy was already in bed when his father awakened him. “What?” “Huh?” I had been fast asleep. “I want you to see this,” he said. He plopped me down on the bed in front of the little black and white TV in my parent’s bedroom. My mother was there too, in her night robe. “Here, look at this,” my father said. “This is history.” All I know is that I was tired, but my dad wouldn’t let me sleep. “This is history,” he repeated pointing at the TV. “Remember this.” On the screen was a grainy picture of a little space ship. Soon, a suited spaceman emerged and a voice scratchy, distant, and somewhat hard to understand was heard: “This is one small step for man and one giant leap for mankind.” My father’s eyes were red as were mine, but his red eyes weren’t from being tired. My father was always fascinated with space and space travel. As a boy, he must have fallen asleep dreaming about it influenced by the likes of Flash Gordon, Buck Rogers, Jules Verne, and H.G. Wells. My father was right. It was a historic moment and I would forever remember. We have now become somewhat more accustomed to space exploration, since that summer of 1969. There followed other Apollo missions, Skylab, the Space Shuttle era, the International Space Station, and any number of various space probes. My father was always keenly interested. Although we have already seen images of the planet of Mars and its surface, each new mission brings with it new information and increases our experience. The goal is a manned mission to Mars, perhaps as soon as 2030. Astronauts are already beginning to train. A man named Musk has certainly expressed interest. The exhibit on prepping for manned Martian flights that I saw a number of years ago at the Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral was quite interesting. The film, The Martian, with Matt Damon was well done and portrays much of the technology that will be needed to reach the Red Planet. Space exploration has been in the mind of man since time immemorial. It might be likened to our annual Lenten “exploration.” As space exploration has taken place incrementally with our first having had to imagine it with the help of Flash and Buck, so too perhaps, concerning the vast recesses of Lent. For many of us, it is as if we are still looking through our telescope with comic book in hand. Our goal needs to be great and grand. It might very well seem impossible and for those who say that it can’t be done - it is impossible! However, the word, “impossible” has no place in Christianity. How wonderful it will be witnessing a man or woman set foot on the Red Planet for the first time as we watch history unfold in color on our HD, 4K, or Hologram TVs of the future. It will be far more wonderful still, when after having explored the vast recesses of Lent little by little over the years our epic journey arrives finally at a place called Resurrection! Let the countdown to liftoff begin…
Peace!
Fr. Wilson