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February 2, 2024Continuing with my talk about the space race (because why not?), I would like to discuss another book I read last year, Apollo One by Ryan S. Walters. For those who do not know, Apollo One was the first mission in the Apollo program to send a man to the moon, which followed the successful Mercury and Gemini programs. On January 27, 1967, astronauts Gus Grissom, Ed White and Roger Chaffee entered the capsule of Apollo One for a routine “plugs out” test and were tragically killed in a fire on the pad of the Kennedy Space Center in Florida. Following the tragic fire, NASA was forced to examine what went wrong that led to the deaths of three Americans. The investigation from NASA revealed several major problems including: (1) dangerous 100% oxygen environment, (2) high amount of flammable material in the capsule, (3) poorly constructed hatch.
I bring up the tragedy of Apollo One and the investigation which followed because we, too, are called to look into our own lives when things go wrong and we fall to sin. We do this when we make an examination of conscience before receiving the Sacrament of Confession. Too often, we become like the members of NASA who believed that nothing major could go wrong. Whereas NASA believed a fire could never occur during a routine test, we sometimes believe that we have done nothing major wrong, and we do not pause to reflect on what may be occurring under the surface. Similarly, NASA was under intense pressure to get man to the moon within the decade, and some felt that the rush to develop the rockets led to the catastrophe of Apollo One. We also feel pressured to get everything done within our day, and because of the fast pace of life, we sometimes forget to stop, enter into prayer, and examine moments in our day when we have not lived as we know we ought. We acknowledge that we have sinned but we also acknowledge the great mercy which God has for us, the mercy which is offered as a gift. There are numerous Examinations of Conscience which one can get (you can find them by doing a quick internet search). If you are not by a computer, I simply recommend sitting in silence and reflecting sincerely on the Ten Commandments. A good examination makes for a good confession and a good confession makes for a good saint.
Fr. Chris
