Often in life we feel lost of hope. There could be many reasons to this. Death in a family, illness, feeling of being betrayed, useless and unwanted. But as Catholics, is that way to carry on. Do we ever reflect? Two thousand years ago the Lord walked on earth to give us hope at all times?
A 15 year old and his father were passing by an airport; above them they could hear the spluttering sound of a failing aircraft engine. A plane was coming in low; from inside their car, father and son watched as the pilot spun out of control and nose-dived into the runway. The boy and his father raced to help the stricken pilot, the teenager pulling the pilot out of the plane. To their horror the 20 year old student pilot who had been practicing landings and take-offs was a friend of the 15 year old boy. The 15 year old boy cradled his injured friend; fighting back tears only to see and feel the student pilot dying in his arms.
Returning home that evening, the boy immediately threw himself into his mother's embrace — sobbing. Too shocked to eat he closed the bedroom door. That evening the mother and father sat outside their son's room. The boy had locked himself in. The parents wanted to give their son room to grieve — but they were also concerned that too long a period of solitude may in fact see him fall into a depression.
Another taught wondered them. The boy always had a fascination with flight. Perhaps it was that he lived but 60 miles from Dayton, Ohio, the home of the Wright Brothers, that his imagination had been so triggered. His initial boyhood interest had steadily developed from flying magazines to model aero planes and then even to a homemade telescope that was to be mounted on top of a neighbors’ garage, so that he could investigate the heavens that he dreamed of soaring. They wondered as to whether the accident would have destroyed their son's interest in flight. He had taken up a part-time job at a local corner-store in order to pay for his training. His ambition had been to be a pilot by his sixteenth birthday. Would he continue with his dream to be a pilot? When he was born his mother Viola Louise who had deep faith in Christ had hoped he would become a Pastor at the Lords Service.
After two days the parents had decided that the time had come to talk openly with their son. When they entered his room, it was empty. Going to the open window, they could see their son walking down the lane-way. On a desk beside the window lay a pen and open notebook. On the paper was written:
"The Character of Jesus. Jesus was sinless;
he was humble;
he championed the poor;
he was unselfish;
he was close to God" .
Lousie understood that in a time of great crisis her son had turned to Christ for support. Quizzing her son later, as to whether he would continue in his goal to be a pilot, the boy replied: "Mom, I hope you and Dad will understand, but with God's help, I must continue to fly”. The boy eventually achieved the rare distinction of receiving his pilot's license before he obtained his motor vehicle license.
On July the 21st 1969, that little boy, Neil Armstrong, who had now become a man and an astronaut, hurtled toward the face of the moon. Shortly after landing Armstrong would address the world with the words: "That's one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind."Unknown to many he opened a small box carrying a consecrated host and took it as Communion on the moon.
Following The successful Moon landing Neil Armstrong and his fellow Apollo XI crew members Edwin Aldrin and Michael Collins were feted across the United States and around the world as part of a 45-day "Giant Leap" tour. Armstrong then took part in Bob Hope's 1969 USO show, primarily to Vietnam.
An unconfirmed report says that during this Tour in the United States the three were spotted by a 8 year old boy. After being told about the three by his Grand Mother the Boy told her "One Day I too want to be Great like them". He did. On 8th November 2008 this then little Boy named Barack Obama became the First African Origin President of the USA and lead the nation through a great and Peaceful .Presidency till 2016.
“Come to me, all who are weary and heavy-laden, and I will give you rest” - Mt Ch 11: 28 - William Afonso