The Space Transportation System was a NASA project for a partially re-usable low Earth orbital spacecraft operated from 1981 to 2011. More commonly known as the Space Shuttle, the first shuttle – Enterprise – had no orbital capability, but the other five – Columbia, Challenger, Discovery, Atlantis, and Endeavor – flew a total of 135 missions over 30 years.
Two of the orbiter vehicles were lost in mission accidents – Challenger in 1986 on take-off, and Columbia in 2003 on re-entry.
One week ago, Saturday, Allan McDonald passed away. Mr. McDonald was an engineer and the director of the Space Shuttle Solid Rocket Motor Project. In January 1986, he refused to sign off on the final launch of Challenger which suffered a catastrophic failure 73 seconds after take-off.
McDonald testified before the Rogers Commission that June as a whistleblower, revealing the coverup by his own employer – Morton Thiokol and NASA. He was initially demoted, but eventually was promoted to vice-president of engineering. His story is told in the book Truth, Lies, and O-Rings.
Those who worked with McDonald remember his Laws of the Seven R’s – “Do the right thing for the right reason at the right time with the right people, and you will have no regrets for the rest of your life.”
Today is the 4th Sunday of Lent, sometimes referred as Laetare Sunday, from the Entrance Antiphon from Isaiah 66, “Rejoice, Jerusalem, and all who love her. Be joyful, all who were in mourning; exult …”
Whereas on Gaudete Sunday, the 3rd Sunday of Advent, the focus is on “Rejoice, the Lord is near,” today’s focus is more of time-out. We’ve been praying, fasting, and alms-giving for 25 days, and Easter is a mere three weeks away.
It’s not a time for slacking. St. Paul reminds us that “by grace [we] have been saved through faith, and this is not from [us]; it is the gift of God … so no one may boast.”
And in the Gospel, we hear that “God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him might not perish but might have eternal life.”
Everything we have and everything we experience is God’s gift to us.
Normally during Lent, we have individuals preparing for the Easter Sacraments – the Sacraments of Initiation.
Without that, this year, we may miss that we, too, are called to re-trace the path of preparation to reclaim or enhance our own experience of those Baptismal graces of Faith, Hope, and Love.
While this may sound esoteric, those supernatural virtues inform us in soul, mind, and heart – Faith informs the soul, Hope informs the mind, and Love informs the heart.
Our Lenten practices, too, allow us to work on soul, mind, and heart through growth in the human or cardinal virtues of temperance, prudence, and fortitude.
Temperance is tied to the soul, and is when we draw our focus away from the pleasures of this world, and direct our thoughts and actions to the joys of heaven.
Prudence is tied to the mind, and is when right reasoning directs our actions – letting the Word of God and the Will of God operate in what we say and what we do.
Fortitude is tied to the heart, and is when we strengthen our resolve to resist temptations and overcome obstacles and persevere in doing good.
And Justice ties them all together, giving us the disposition to offer what is due to God and to give what is due neighbor.
All of this can be summarized in short as “doing the right thing at the right time for the right reason with the right people.” And in doing that, we can be assured that we “will have no regrets for the rest of our lives.”
Lent is a period of spiritual training to allow us to draw closer to God’s will and to conform our lives more closely to the Gospel by drawing closer to the Cross. We are at the “half-time” of Lent, let us continue to move forward in Faith, Hope, and Love.
As we approach this altar to receive the Sacred Body and Blood, Soul and Divinity of Jesus Christ, let us pray that the manifold graces of this Most Blessed Sacrament may save us through faith. Knowing that it is the gift of God, may we strengthen our resolve to follow Christ to Calvary, and … eventually … to Glory in heaven.
