Holy Communion in the Sea of Tranquility - In Loving Memory of Neil Armstrong

 

This tribute is from this morning's "The Daily Office West" website. I love to read how the Sacrament of Holy Communion is a tangible way of helping us to become conscious of God's grace and presence in our lives no matter where we are.

 

A statue of Neil Armstrong as an undergraduate at his alma mater, Purdue University, now decorated with signs of mourning and gratitude. Here’s something you may not know or might have forgotten: “In the radio blackout, 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.’ … 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.” — Buzz Aldrin & Neil Armstrong receiving the 1st Communion on the Moon, 1969