My dear parishioners,

Joseph Russo was my favorite high school teacher. When I attended Cathedral Preparatory Seminary, from 2003 to 2007, he taught history, civics, economics, and space science. He was also the speech and debate coach, and a committed Catholic through and through. It goes without saying that he had a profound influence on me. I learned a lot from Mr. Russo both inside and outside the classroom. To this very day, some six years after his passing, my classmates and I reminisce on the lessons he taught us.

Mr. Russo grew up during the Space Age, that time in the world’s history when the United States and the Soviet Union competed for dominance in the final frontier. The Soviets launched Sputnik in 1957, while we sent men to the moon in 1969. What a time to be alive! And to think the Wright Brothers had only invented the airplane some 60 years prior! I think this overview, this perspective of history, inspired Mr. Russo to say one day in class as both a joke and an indictment, “Great societies do great things, ours build malls.” At the time, the Queens Center Mall was nearing completion next door to our modest prep seminary. It had been an ongoing construction project in Elmhurst. He viewed it, I believe, as another temple of commerce. Yes, there will be many stores and eateries, but will it inspire greatness in all who cross its threshold like the medieval cathedrals of the Old World? Or like the modern space program of Mr. Russo’s youth?

A glimpse of that greatness was seen on Easter Monday with the Artemis II lunar flyby mission. Astronauts Reid Wiseman, Victor Glover, Christina Koch, and Jeremy Hansen made history. They became the first humans to travel the furthest from Earth some 252, 756 miles breaking the record held by Apollo 13. Jeremy Hansen remarked on this monumental occasion, “…as we surpass the furthest distance humans have ever traveled from planet Earth, we do so in honoring the extraordinary efforts and feats of our predecessors in human space exploration. We will continue our journey even further into space before Mother Earth succeeds in pulling us back to everything that we hold dear. But we most importantly choose this moment to challenge this generation and the next to make sure this record is not long-lived.”

On this side of eternity, I know this moment, this mission, would have brought great joy to Mr. Russo. It would mark a return to the great society he opined about. However, it would not have been lost on my history teacher that as man looked to the stars, he is plagued by serious problems here on earth. When Neil Armstrong stepped foot on the moon, the United States grappled with social unrest at home and the Vietnam War abroad. Colonel Hansen’s remarks come as we find ourselves threatening unspeakable and needless violence on the people of Iran.

Mr. Russo was correct that great societies do great things, but what do self-professed Christian societies do? I think we do well to remember the great truth of faith that we are indeed our brother’s, our sister’s keeper, demonstrated so powerfully in the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ. Allow me to leave you with the remarks that Astronaut Victor Glover, an African American and a member of the evangelical Churches of Christ, delivered on Easter Sunday:

I think these observances [Holy Week & Easter] are important and as we are so far from earth and looking back at, you know, the beauty of creation. And I think that for me one of the really important personal perspectives that I have up here is I can really see earth as one thing. And you know when I read the Bible and I look at all of the amazing things that were done for us who were created, it's you, you have this amazing place, this spaceship you guys are talking to us because we're in a spaceship really far from Earth, but you're on a spaceship called Earth that was created to give us a place to live in the universe in the cosmos. Think maybe the distance we are from you makes you think what we're doing is special but we're the same distance from you and I'm trying to tell you just trust me. You are special in all of this emptiness, this is a whole bunch of nothing this thing we call the universe, you have this oasis this beautiful place that we get to exist together. I think as we go into Easter Sunday thinking about you know, all the cultures all around the world whether you celebrate it or not, whether you believe in God or not, this is an opportunity for us to remember where we are, who we are, and that we are the same thing. And that we got to get through this together.

Yours in Christ,
Fr. Daniel O. Kingsley, Pastor