A Message to Earth
Apollo 8 lifted off from the Kennedy Space Center on December 21, 1968. It was the first mission to the moon with a crew aboard, and its purpose was to orbit the moon in preparation for a future landing on the moon.
On Christmas Eve, Apollo 8 entered lunar orbit and the crew began to relay back to Earth live television pictures of the moon and the Earth. They ended their broadcast by saying: “For all the people on Earth, the crew of Apollo 8 has a message we would like to send you.
In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth. And the earth was without form, and void; and darkness was upon the face of the deep…”
The three man crew, taking turns, continued reading the first 10 verses of the Book of Genesis, which ended….
And God called the dry land Earth; and the gathering together of the waters he called the Seas. And God saw that it was good.”
Commander Frank Borman then added: “And from the crew of Apollo 8, we close with good night, good luck, a Merry Christmas, and God bless all of you – all of you on the good Earth.”
In the days surrounding Christmas we always think of those who have died. “This is the first Christmas without them.
Even if they died long ago, we remember them in a special way every Christmas.
It must have been like that for Mary and Jesus when, after Joseph died, they celebrated Passover…and a feast in which the father of the family had an important part.
At Passover Mary especially missed her husband, whom she loved. And Jesus missed his father, whom he loved.
But for Mary, there would come another special day that was a mixture of joy and sorrow. We don’t know the exact date of Jesus’ birth. But Mary did.
Mary would have been in her middle or late 40s when Jesus was killed. Each year after that, Mary celebrated the birthday of Jesus – Christmas – without her husband, and without her son.
Whomever you miss at Christmas…talk to Mary. She understands.
Spend some quiet time with the Lord.