[Apologetics] FW: On the Moon (I never knew this)

[Art Kelly]

Attached is a message from a friend regarding Buzz Aldrin taking "communion" on the moon.
 
Actually, I DID know that one of the astronauts took some "communion" bread with him to the moon, but I didn't realize he also had wine.  I didn't pay too much attention to who it was but assumed he must have been an Episcopalian.
 
Now, this message indicates he was a Presbyterian, but it doesn't say what kind.
 
Depending on the particular kind of Presbyterian, I think their beliefs range from a purely symbolic nature of their "communion" to one that thinks Jesus is present is some vaguely spiritual way.  Exactly what Aldrin believed about communion is not completely clear from this message.  He does say:
 
"And so the pastor consecrated a communion wafer and a small
 vial of communion wine. And Buzz Aldrin  took them with him out of the Earth's orbit and on to the surface of the moon."
 
I don't what he meant by "consecrated."  What exactly does that term MEAN to the particular Presbyterian denomination Aldrin belongs to?
 
At no point does he refer to the body and blood of Jesus, so I don't know what Aldrin thinks the minister DID to the bread and wine.
 
The next question would be:  Assuming he thinks the minister did something to the bread and wine, maybe creating a spirtual presence of Jesus in the elements, where did the minister receive the power and authority to do this?
 
To the best of my knowledge, Presbyterians do not claim apostolic succession--how could they?--or consider ordination to be a sacrament. (If my understanding of Presbyterianism is not accurate, I hope one of the participants in our Apologetic Group will correct me.) 
 
So, how could Aldrin's minister "consecrate" (whatever that means) the bread and wine?
 
If the answer is that Presbyterians believe in the ministerial priesthood of ALL believers, then that would mean that Aldrin or any other member of that church could have "consecrated" the elements.  Why would Aldrin ask his minister to do that if he could have done it himself?
 
(By the way, a Catholic priest is prohibited from consecrating the bread and wine outside of Mass.  It would be valid to do so, but definitely illicit.)
 
Of course, Aldrin obviously thought he was doing SOMETHING religious on the Moon and deserved credit for his faith.  Since Presbyterians do not have valid orders or valid sacraments, Jesus was not present in his bread and wine.  But God was surely pleased that Aldrin was expressing his Christian beliefs as well as he could.
 
But I found the story to be theologically interesting and thought I would pass it along to you for any information you might have about this matter, as it relates to Presbyterianism.
 
Art
--- On Thu, 2/18/10, Art Kelly <akelly at americantarget.com> wrote:


From: Art Kelly <akelly at americantarget.com>
Subject: FW: Subject: On the Moon (I never knew this)
To: "Art Kelly" <arthurkelly at yahoo.com>
Date: Thursday, February 18, 2010, 5:43 PM









From: Foudy, Michael [mailto:mfoudy at aimsworldwide.com] 
Sent: Tuesday, February 16, 2010 9:06 PM
To: JO ANNE ASCHENBRENER; SAJ5 at aol.com; Jerry Naylor; Ssbalich at aol.com; ivana nechanicka; Art Kelly
Subject: FW: Subject: On the Moon (I never knew this)




FYI
 




From: OHara, Nicholas [mailto:nicholas.ohara at co.ramsey.mn.us] 
Sent: Tuesday, February 16, 2010 1:43 PM
Subject: FW: Subject: On the Moon (I never knew this)
 
Subject: On the Moon (I never knew this)

 How many of you knew? I will have to admit...I didn't.
 Too bad this type news doesn't travel as fast as bad.

 Communion on the Moon: July 20th, 1969 Jul 19, 2009
 Forty years ago today two human beings changed history by walking 
 on the
 surface of the moon. But what happened before Buzz Aldrin 
 and Neil Armstrong exited the Lunar Module is perhaps 
 even  more amazing, if only because so few people know about it

 I'm talking about the fact that Buzz
 Aldrin took communion on the surface of
 the moon. Some months after his return,
 he wrote about it in Guideposts magazine.
 And a few years ago I had the privilege
 of meeting him myself. I asked him
 about it and he confirmed the story to
 me, and I wrote about in my book
 Everything You Always Wanted to Know
 About God (But Were Afraid to Ask).
 
The background to the story is that
 Aldrin was an elder at his Presbyterian
 Church in Texas during this period in his
 life, and knowing that he would soon be
 doing something unprecedented in human
 history, he felt he should mark the
 occasion somehow, and he asked his pastor
 to help him. And so the pastor
 consecrated a communion wafer and a small
 vial of communion wine. And Buzz Aldrin
 took them with him out of the Earth's
 orbit and on to the surface of the moon. 

He and Armstrong had only been on the
 lunar surface for a few minutes when
 Aldrin made the following public
 statement: "This is the LM pilot. I'd
 like to take this opportunity to ask
 every person listening in, whoever and
 wherever 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 ended radio
 communication and there, on the silent
 surface of the moon, 250,000 miles from
 home, he read a verse from the Gospel of
 John, and he took communion. Here is his
 own account of what happened: 
 
"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.. Apart from me
 you can do nothing.

 I had intended to read my communion
 passage back to earth, but at the last
 minute [they] had requested that I not
 do this. NASA was already embroiled in
 a legal battle with Madelyn Murray
 O'Hare, the celebrated opponent of
 religion, over the Apollo 8 crew
 reading from Genesis while orbiting the
 moon at Christmas. I agreed
 reluctantly. 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
 element And of course, it's interesting to think
 that some of the first words spoken on
 the moon were the words of Jesus Christ,
 who made the Earth and the moon - and
 Who, in the immortal words of Dante, is
 Himself the "Love that moves the Sun and
 other stars."

 WOW!!!!
 


      
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