weekend inspiration

phone call with the pope -

Something happened last week.   Maybe just a little thing.    Or maybe not.   CatholicVote's former President Brian Burch recently shared the news that Pope Leo XIV had a unique phone call arranged by the U.S. Embassy to the Vatican – the post where he hopes to soon take up his role as the U.S. Ambassador to the Holy See.   The call last week was with famed astronaut Buzz Aldrin – the second person to step foot on the moon as part of the historic Apollo 11 mission. An American pope marked the 56th anniversary of the famed moon landing – an event he no doubt would have watched as a young teenager living on the south side of Chicago.   A neat anniversary?    A historic achievement for America and humanity?    In 2009 as part of the 40th Anniversary of the Apollo 11 mission to the moon, then CV President Burch flew to Houston to launch a new CatholicVote ad campaign. He made the announcement surrounded by the media and former astronauts, including Catholic Gene Krantz, head of mission control during the dramatic Apollo 13 mission (remember Ed Harris in the movie!).   Here's the ad we launched: The message of the ad was simple. Imagine the potential of every human life.    Imagine what God has in store for every human person – including you!   CV donors like you made it happen. We received word that the ad was watched by hundreds of thousands. Better than a simple argument, the ad hoped to inspire awe at the majesty of God's creation – space, the moon, and every human life.   The Vatican and our Church have always been interested in space for this reason. The Vatican has long encouraged and sponsored exploration of space and the cosmos. What other church has its own observatory?   But do you remember what Buzz Aldrin said on the moon?   Upon stepping on the moon, Aldrin radioed back to earth:    "I would like to request a few moments of silence … and to invite each person listening in, wherever and whomever they may be, to pause for a moment and contemplate the events of the past few hours, and to give thanks in his or her own way."   He then read from John 15:5…   "I am the vine, you are the branches. He who abides in me, and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing."    The Vatican reported that in their call last week, Pope Leo and Aldrin discussed Psalm 8.    O Lord, our Lord, how glorious is your name over all the earth! You have exalted your majesty above the heavens. Out of the mouths of babes and sucklings you have fashioned praise because of your foes, … When I behold your heavens, the work of your fingers, the moon and the stars which you set in place- What is man that you should be mindful of him.   An ordinary phone call between the pope and an astronaut?   Or perhaps a timely message that bears thinking about – again and again.   O Lord, our Lord, how glorious is your name over all the earth!   Go forward bravely, Kelsey Reinhardt President, CatholicVote Paid for by CatholicVote Civic Action, a 501(c)(4) organization. Update your email preferences or unsubscribe here. CATHOLICVOTE  |  PO Box 3310  |  Carmel, IN 46082  |  (317) 669-6127 Believe in what we're doing? Help us keep it going! Donate Here