This weekend we celebrate the 50th anniversary of perhaps our proudest moment as Americans—Neil Armstrong, Buzz Aldrin, and Michael Collins’ July 20th, 1969 moon landing.

Why does it matter to a Catholic priest half-a-century later in northeast Pennsylvania?

Because where our greatest achievements lie, where we find a sense of wonder and awe, where we boldly strike out to experience and explore the heights of creation, there we find glimmers of something bigger, hints towards the meaning and purpose of it all, sparks of the divine seeded throughout the world. May the anniversary of Apollo 11’s trip to the moon inspire you to look up at the night sky, experience the beauty of the universe, dream of the potential of the human community, and ponder the greatness of God.